


Something That Isn’t There (formerly: i wrote this at 2 am while eating ice)

by ToastyBagel



Series: serendipity [1]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Cheating, Implied Sexual Content, Implied Violence, Implied abuse, M/M, POV First Person, Purple Guy is Vincent, and, but ur still gonna read it, i rated it mature bc of some, innuendos, phone guy is named scott, questionable dialogue, questionable narration, stable relationship, they have airpods, uwu, you know what it’s about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:07:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24610543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToastyBagel/pseuds/ToastyBagel
Summary: A business trip with William Afton, I can handle. A trip with Vincent, however…Let’s just say we’d both be lucky to make it out alive.
Relationships: Phone Guy/Purple Guy (Five Nights at Freddy's)
Series: serendipity [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1811695
Comments: 49
Kudos: 82





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toasthater](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toasthater/gifts).



> yo i’m so sorry
> 
> yes i know it’s part of the series but it’s not at all related to the assassin au i wrote earlier (go read that btw if you like this one)
> 
> also most of the “implied” tags refer to events that happen before the fic that are brought up in the narration or dialogue

No.

Not Vincent.

God, please, anyone but Vincent.

“I know it’s a hassle, but Henry is out of town and Michael has school. It’ll only be a weekend, I promise. You don’t have to pay for anything except food. Oh, by the way, I’ve requested a suite with three different beds, so you two hopefully won’t fight about that.”

I shot Vincent a glare, digging my nails into my palms. Just being on the phone with Vincent is hell, let alone living in the same room for a whole weekend. Vincent didn’t even look back at me, sighing as he rolled his eyes.

“Please come on this business trip with me. I want to make this place look good. If the entertainment industry gets ahold of Freddy’s, we’d all benefit…” William tapped the two waivers on his desk, urging us to make our decision quick.

“Vincent, he's right. We should stop being selfish and just go on the trip,” I huffed, snatching a pen off of the desk.

“I’m being selfish? You’re just going for the pay raise!”

“So are you!” I signed the waiver, slamming the pen on the desk. Vincent snickered, ruffling my hair. I swatted his hand away. “Believe me, I’m not going on this trip to sleep with you,” I mumbled as I watched him sign his form, tossing the pen in the air once he was done. After catching it, he turned back to me with the same smirk I’ve always hated.

“Thank you, boys. At least Chicago has some good tourist opportunities, so it won’t all be boring. There’s going to be an art exhibition near our hotel on Saturday night if you two want to go.”

“I guess that would be fun,” I replied, avoiding thoughts of the rest of the trip. If I have to sleep in the same hotel as Vincent, at least I get a chance to get lost in an art museum and forget I ever knew him. 

“Yeah, you would like that,” Vincent mumbled, scratching at his fingernails.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing…”

“One more thing,” William began, breaking up what was probably our millionth argument of the day. “I don’t want you fighting in public. Remember, you’re the face of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.”

“Yeah, Scott.” Vincent playfully punched my shoulder.

“Seriously?” I rubbed my arm, taking a step away from Vincent.

“Agree to disagree, put on a facade, whatever. You can fight as much as you want in the hotel room, just not while we’re out.” William took turns pointing accusingly at both of us. I sighed, nodding as Vincent ran a hand through his long, purple hair. 

Not fighting with Vincent would be easy. That is, if he would stop teasing me for one fucking second. I may disagree with him, but at least I don’t try to flirt with him at the same time.

As much as I want to say we can forget our differences with some quality bonding time, I can’t bring myself to lie like that.

I’m just praying we’ll make it to the airport without strangling each other.


	2. planes scarey😳

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi William Afton is Vincent’s uncle in my au (making Michael Afton his cousin ofc)

“What’s wrong with these seats?” Vincent asked, glancing between our plane tickets as I tossed my backpack into the compartment.

“Nothing, as long as you leave me alone.” While William got a row all to himself, Vincent and I had to share the row in the back of the plane with the unfortunately cramped seats.

“But planes are boring…” he complained, sinking into his chair.

“Just talk to the people across the aisle or something.”

“They’ll think I’m insane.”

“Can I sit down now?” I motioned for Vincent to stand, as he was sitting near the aisle and I was sitting by the window. When he nodded but didn’t move, I sighed, crossing my arms. “I’m not climbing over you, asshole.”

“Oh, you hate this much more than I do…” Vincent smirked, stepping out of the row and lightly shoving me into the seats. Before I got a chance to reply, both of our phones vibrated, showing a text from William Afton.

‘Don’t you dare make a scene on the airplane.’

Before I could comment on the text aloud, Vincent had already responded.

‘yeah, scotty, there could be kids around’

“I’m literally right next to you, and don’t call me that-”

I was cut off by another text from Vincent in the group chat.

‘uncle will, he’s ignoring me’

Vincent cackled beside me as I shook my head, setting my pillow against the wall of the plane.

Our phones buzzed again, showing another text from William.

‘Vincent, just let him sleep. On this trip, I’m your boss, not your uncle.’

“heh,” I heh’d, pulling my hood over my head and collapsing into my pillow. 

“Whatever.”

Soon after, the flight attendant introduced the flight and all of the safety stuff. I was so tired that I mostly tuned it out, watching our plane glide away from the airport.

There’s no going back now.

“Hey,” Vincent whispered, causing me to jump as I turned toward him. “You might want to put your seatbelt on before I do it for you~”

“Thanks, I guess.” Surprisingly, though, Vincent didn’t persist. “I’m just tired.”

“Oh, me too. My neighbor’s dog would not shut up last night, so I just watched netflix until I fell asleep. What about you? I’d expect you to have at least a decent sleep schedule.”

“Oh, well, I just couldn’t sleep. No reason, really. I went on a walk.”

“Outside?” I nodded. “It’s January.” I nodded. “It snowed last night.”

“I was wearing a coat. I just felt like going outside,” I replied, shrugging. “I’m not sick or anything, so it’s fine.” 

“You shouldn’t be going outside at night, though. Someone could easily snatch you up.”

“I know.” I leaned into the pillow, my gaze fixed on the ground as the plane began to ascend.

“No. As much as I tease you, I legitimately worry about you sometimes. Why are you always so defensive?”

“I’m not. Leave me alone,” I muttered, briefly glancing back at Vincent.

“Please, I talk about myself all the time. Just tell me about something- anything from before I met you.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“I’ll ask again when we’re at the hotel.”

“Fine.”

I felt awful for dismissing Vincent like that, but my life before Freddy’s is something I’d rather not revisit.

******************

I woke up about a half an hour into the flight. Vincent, noticing me shift to check the time, paused whatever movie he was watching.

“Hey, do you want anything to eat?” He murmured just loud enough for me to hear. 

“I’ll have some water,” I yawned, leaning against the back of the seat. 

“What, you don’t want any alcohol or anything?” he smirked, nudging my shoulder. I nudged his shoulder right back before replying.

“No way. I’m not getting drunk on a plane.”

“Lightweight…”

“At least I don’t have to spend as much money.”

“Touché,” he softly laughed as the stewardess entered our cabin.

After we got our drinks, I skimmed through a few of the pamphlets in the seat pocket in front of me until Vincent turned to me again.

“I guess I expected you to sleep longer, especially since you didn’t last night,” he mentioned, taking out a purple airpod.

“I’ll try to fall asleep again, I just-”

“No, no, you don’t have to. Here,” he said, handing me the airpod. “do you want to watch?”

“What movie?”

“It.”

“No, thanks. I don’t like horror.”

“Okay, then I’m asking you what you like to watch when we get to the hotel. We’ll probably have some downtime.”

“Watch whatever you want, I won’t mind-”

“Unless you like sappy shit, I want to watch your favorite movie with you.”

“But- I-”

“I want to know more about you, stupid. Maybe we won’t argue as much.”

Vincent was right; although I really didn’t want to share my life experiences with him, we might argue less if we understand each other better.

“Maybe…” I hugged the pillow as I stared into the ceiling. Vincent out both airpods back in and unpaused the movie. I couldn’t believe he was actually leaving me alone for once. 

I, however, was not looking forward to telling Vincent about myself. I hoped we would never get to the hotel.

******************

“Hey, we’re here. Wake up, idiot.”

A couple hours later, Vincent gently shook my shoulders as the plane was landing. Not realizing I had fallen asleep, I somehow ended up laying against Vincent’s shoulder. 

I quickly backed away, eyes wide as I looked up at Vincent, who was unphased.

“Morning, sunshine,” Vincent snickered.

“I- I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-” I stammered as I felt my cheeks heat up. 

“No, no, you’re fine. Your hair smells nice, by the way.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

As a flight attendant dismissed us from the plane, we found William Afton waiting for us outside of the terminal.

“I’m surprised you two made it through that flight. I thought I’d have to turn the plane around before we even took off.” William glanced between me and Vincent, chuckling as he turned around, leading us out of the airport.

“Me too,” I mumbled, glancing at every store and restaurant we passed.

When we stepped outside, there was already a taxi waiting for us by the sidewalk. Our suitcases were thrown into the back of the car as Vincent and I slid into the back seat, William in the front passenger seat.

I turned my phone off of airplane mode, texting my sister to make sure she’s feeding my cat, Ebony.

“You never told me you had a cat.” Vincent leaned over my shoulder. I turned my phone over, lightly shoving him away.

“That’s none of your business, but yes, I do.”

“What kind?”

“I don’t know the specific breed, but he’s all black with one green eye and one blue eye.”

“He sounds adorable.”

“He follows me everywhere. I hope he’s alright at home by himself.”

“I'm not really surprised you’re a cat person, to be honest,” Vincent smirked at me as I squinted, confused. “You know, you’re cold to everyone, you sleep everywhere-”

“Shut up. I get it.”

I glanced back at my phone, feeling relief wash over me as my sister had, in fact, fed the cat.

“Well, that’s good to know,” Vincent mumbled, peering over my shoulder again. Startled, I gently shoved him away for a second time. “What? Have you got some deep, dark secrets on there or something?”

“No. What, can I not have a life outside of Freddy’s?”

“Are you going to tell me about it?”

“No.”

“Well, then-”

“Boys, we’re here!” William was standing at the open door of the taxi, the driver pulling our suitcases to the sidewalk. Behind William was a grand hotel where the convention was taking place. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”

I stepped out of the taxi first, my eyes adjusting to the overwhelmingly bright sunlight.

“Could you two get my bags while I check us in? Thank you,” William called to us as he entered the hotel lobby, leaving Vincent and I alone on the sidewalk, surrounded by our luggage.

“Well, have fun with the suitcases,” Vincent chuckled, starting for the hotel before me with his single suitcase, leaving me with four others to bring inside.

“Come on, really?” 

“You can do it, I believe in you!” Vincent joked, turning in front of the door to watch me. 

Vincent, who had beaten me at arm wrestling many times, was just standing around while I carried four suitcases and two smaller bags. What was even in these, bricks? Fifty copies of Les Misérables? The entire Bee Movie script? Five dead bodies? The sins I’ve committed? All of the above? 

“Hurry up. I’m not going to wait for you.”

“Would it kill you to take just one of these? I know you lift-”

“Oh, but it would kill me, and we both know you wouldn’t want that…” Vincent held the door open as I stumbled inside the hotel lobby.

“Fuck you…” I muttered under my breath, stopping once we were both inside the doors.

“Well, we’re going to have to wait until we get to our room for that~”

Before I could scold Vincent, William approached us.

“Here’s the key to our suite. I need to make a quick phone call, then I’ll be right up.”

Reaching the fifth floor, we found our room as quickly as we could with me dragging around basically everything.

“Here we are! See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Vincent smirked at me, easily unlocking the door.

“I can’t feel my arms.” I dropped the suitcases by the door, collapsing on the couch in the living room of the suite. Vincent was already peeking inside of the rooms. Honestly, I didn’t care where I slept, as long as I was far away from Vincent.

“Hey, Scott,” Vincent called, stifling a laugh. “You might want to see this…”

“What is it now?”

“Just come here!”

I paced to the room Vincent was in the doorway of, expecting him to show me the little hotel soaps or something dumb like that. What I did find, however, made my heart drop.

“What- what about the other room?” I stammered, anxiously glancing up at Vincent as he snorted.

“It’s the same as this one.”

“What about the third one?”

“That’s a closet,” Vincent laughed out of shock as I bit my lip, trying not to show any reaction. 

“I guess I’m sleeping on the couch, then…” I returned to the living room before Vincent could make any sexual remarks. 

In each room, there was only one bed.


	3. the sexual tension in this room is higher than my blood pressure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah it’s another chapter

“No, I’m not going to make you sleep on the couch,” Vincent repeated. We had been in a heated argument over the bed situation. 

Vincent wanted me to take the bed because of what I told him on the plane about not being able to sleep. I, however, argued that Vincent should have the bed for that same reason. I wouldn’t want to take it if I might not even sleep in the first place.

“If I leave, I don’t want to wake you up…”

“I don’t want you to leave without me knowing. Cities like this are dangerous at night.”

“Since when do you care so much?”

“Since this morning, when you stepped into the airport looking like you hadn’t slept in a week. What if we both take it? It’s a king size, we’ll both have plenty of space-”

“No way-”

We were both abruptly cut off by William opening the door to our suite, locking it behind him.

“Well, what do you think?”

“I think Scott’s pissed off.”

“I am not-”

“Oh, I’m sorry for not telling you our reservations didn’t really work out. We’re lucky to have two rooms…” William trailed off, lifting his suitcases into one of the rooms. 

“I’m not letting you sleep on this couch,” Vincent muttered, lightly hitting the sofa before falling into the cushions, picking up the TV remote.

“Fine, I’ll sleep on the floor.” I took my bags to the room where Vincent’s were before heading toward the door. “I’m going to look around.”

“Can I come with, or are you avoiding me?” Vincent obviously knew the answer.

“Fine, bring the ice bucket. I just want to get out of here.”

Vincent looked as if he wanted to let me go alone, remembered we were in Chicago, and decided to go with me.

“Hey, don’t be stressed out. My uncle chose us for a reason. You’re gonna be just fine.” Vincent tried to comfort me as I paced through the halls, but it didn’t work. This trip was going to be a nightmare. “Hey, I told you I’d get to know you better when we got to the hotel, and we’re at the hotel.”

“Fine, but I can’t guarantee I’ll answer whatever you ask me,” I replied, glancing up at Vincent. 

“Okay, do you want the embarrassing questions now or later?”

“What do you mean by embarrassing?”

“Your love life?”

I froze for a second, glancing behind us before answering.

“I don’t have one.” 

Vincent opened the door to the stairwell, letting me step inside first. Although it was well-kept, it still smelled strongly of dust and cheap cleaning products.

“I don’t believe that, especially after hearing you ask to switch shifts once because of a date you had.” Vincent paused, watching me stare into the seemingly endless stairwell. “Well? Tell me about the date,” Vincent said, beginning to step down the first flight of stairs.

“That was two weeks ago. If you really need to know, it didn’t go well and I don’t want to talk about it.” I crossed my arms, trying not to shiver at the sheer thought of that night.

“I promise it won’t leave this stairwell. You’ve just been...distant...since then,” Vincent continued, stopping at one of the landings.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I continued walking as Vincent quickly caught up to me.

“You’ve been working insanely long hours without a break and you’re constantly zoning out. We rarely even fight anymore like we used to.”

“We were just arguing about who gets the bed-”

“You’re different, okay? I mentioned you being defensive on the plane, and you’ve only gotten worse since we’ve been here.” Vincent gently laid his hands on my shoulders, stopping and turning me toward him. I backed out of his arms, but didn’t continue walking.

“It’s-” I shifted my gaze to the floor, struggling to escape Vincent’s harsh stare. “He broke up with me, okay? He took me out then waited until the worst possible time to break the news. He told me he was moving to Texas or something. I don’t remember all of the details. I’d rather not think about him right now.”

“I had no idea-”

“No, you’re fine. I should be getting over it, anyway.” I blinked as I stared at the descending steps, waiting for Vincent to continue walking.

“Come on, let’s get some ice. I wonder if there’s a pool here.” Vincent continued down the stairs, slightly slower this time. 

I could never shake the thought that Vincent may be untrustworthy, but I was never sure why. For the past few years I’ve known him, despite our disagreements, I’ve always felt a sense of safety around him. Even now, when I’m never sure who I can trust, Vincent has been nothing but loyal to me.

Maybe this is all a trap.

******************

“Oh, look, there is a pool. You know, I used to swim in high school,” Vincent mentioned as we passed the glass doors to the indoor pool, slightly shaking the ice bucket with every step he took.

“Really? I always thought you played football or something like that.”

“Well, what did you do, show choir?”

“No,” I laughed softly. “I was in journalism and I tutored some friends, too.” 

“I can see that.” Vincent pressed the elevator button, waiting for the door to open. “Remember when I asked you what movies you like?”

“Yeah, why?” I watched the elevator open, stepping inside with Vincent once I realized it was empty. 

“Well, we basically have a free day tomorrow. Wanna watch some tonight?” Vincent smirked warmly, turning the bucket around in his hands. He can’t seriously be flirting with me, right? Vincent’s my coworker, and he just wants to hang out as friends..late at night...in the same bed…

It’s not like we have a choice, though. Our room only has one bed. We’ll keep our socks on.

“If you really want to, sure, but I don’t have a favorite genre or anything,” I replied, shrugging.

“What have you watched more than once? You’ve got to have some type of preference-” 

“I never choose the movie… I don’t remember any of the ones I’ve seen this year.” I anxiously tapped the handrail of the elevator as Vincent stared back at me, his expression unreadable.

“Movie dates are overrated,” he mumbled, turning to watch the elevator door open once again. “I’ll choose first and if you think of one, tell me. It’s about time you were immersed in some good fucking film.”

We continued to chat about nothing in particular as we neared our suite, unlocking it and heading inside once we got to the door.

“Did you two have a nice walk?” William asked, not looking up from a few scattered papers on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“It was fine. We brought some ice,” Vincent said, dropping the ice bucket next to the coffee maker.

“Wonderful. Would you boys mind giving me your opinions on these new designs? They’re a bit out there, but I think the kids will like them.” He handed me a few papers from the table, giving Vincent the remaining ones.

The first one I skimmed over looked innocent enough. It was a plastic, pink and white Freddy animatronic with a Bonnie hand puppet. Inside of its torso was extra storage space in case it was needed, which I decided not to question.

“I think this one’s good,” I said, moving it behind the other papers. Before I looked at the next one, Vincent chimed in.

“Is this one a boy or a girl?” Vincent turned the paper around. In one paragraph, the robot was referred to as female. In the one immediately after, however, it was referred to as male. The animatronic in question was a plastic, pink and white fox.

“It can mimic the sound of human voices and  _ that’s  _ the question you ask?” I slightly chuckled, looking up at Vincent. 

“Well, how should I refer to it, huh? Unlike you, I want to be safe when these things take over the world.”

“Vincent, it’s a plastic fox. Does it matter?” I shifted my gaze from the paper to Vincent as his smirk grew when he saw I was annoyed.

William sighed.

“Do you like the design or not?” William slightly glared, turning back to the other papers on the table.

“Yeah, I think it’s good.” Vincent set the paper on the edge of the table.

I looked over the next sketch in my hands. It was a light blue rabbit with a red bow tie and some serious curves.

“Are you- are you sure this one’s appropriate?” I asked, running a hand through my hair.

“Let me see.” Vincent leaned over my shoulder, not at all reacting to the sketch in my hand. “It’s just a rabbit. What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s just a little...it could allude to…”

“It’s only a stripper if you make it a stripper, Scott.”

I sighed, slightly laughing out of shock as I moved the paper to the back of the stack.

“Fine. If you think parents won’t have issues with this, go ahead,” I said, straightening out the stack of papers in my hands.

“Hey,” Vincent grabbed my shoulder, causing me to jump as he pulled me toward him. “Didn’t mean to scare you- I just thought you’d like to see this one.”

“Sure, why not, I- oh.” 

In front of me was the most unsettling robot I had ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of unsettling robots. This thing was a whole ass clown.

“I’ve heard recently that kids like clowns, so I thought that one would make for good marketing. She makes ice cream, too.” William chimed in, holding up a blueprint of the ice cream dispenser.

“That part-” I pointed to the dispenser blueprint. “-is great. It’s just...kind of uncanny, in a way…”

“What, are you scared of clowns or something?” Vincent teased, lightly swatting me with the papers in his hand.

“They’re creepy, okay? Maybe I’m just biased…”

“If you’re so scared of clowns, how can you stand to look in the mirror-”

“Oh, would you look at the time!” William interrupted us, taking the papers from our hands. “Let’s go out for dinner. It’s been a long day. I’ve already found a place, so don’t fight over where to eat.”

“Yeah, Scott-”

“Shut up. I’m going to change. How fancy is this place?”

“You could probably wear jeans,” William replied as I nodded, closing the bedroom door behind me. I didn’t lock it, though, just in case Vincent wanted to change, too. I grabbed a plain sweater and jeans, stepping into the bathroom.

Two weeks and, still, not everything had healed completely. Examining my shoulders for what was probably the tenth time that week, I pressed the button on the doorknob, locking the door. With how much Vincent was prying earlier, I couldn’t let him see me like this.

I probably spent a suspicious amount of time behind that locked door, checking which scars were noticeable and which were not. At least it was winter, so I had an excuse to wear a sweater. After I felt confident enough to step back into the living area, I unlocked the door and did so.

“Took you long enough,” Uttered Vincent, who was now wearing a different shirt. “Why do you always take forever to get ready?”

“I care about how I look. Maybe you should, too. A pretty face won’t get you everywhere,” I joked in reply, leaning against the wall.

“Aww, he thinks I’m pretty~” Vincent said toward William, who rolled his eyes.

“Okay, we should have a taxi waiting for us by the main doors. You two go ahead, I’ll catch up.” William straightened out a stack of papers, sorting a few more sketches into various piles.

Vincent and I left the room silently, finding that the taxi hadn’t arrived yet. I pulled out my phone.

My ex had started texting me again.


	4. are we abt to kiss rn?????????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> woah another funky fresh chapter!!!!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update 6/25/2020: Just thought this chapter needed some edits, no major changes were made

Dinner was pretty uneventful. It probably would have been better if my phone hadn’t been blowing up the whole time. When we got into the taxi to get back to the hotel, I finally got a chance to read the messages my ex boyfriend sent throughout the past couple hours.

‘Hey’

‘I’ve been thinking lately’

Well, he obviously wasn’t thinking for the two years we were together. Sighing, I scrolled through the rest of the texts he left.

‘I think we should talk again, I really miss you’

‘I made some mistakes but I promise I won’t hurt you again’

‘What do you say tonight at 9? I’ll pick you up’ 

‘Is this the right number?’

I breathed sharply, trying to not draw attention to myself. I never told him I was going away for the weekend, nor did he need to know. I thought I would never see him again. I leaned back in my seat, desperately trying to think of a casual reply. 

Glancing to my left, I sighed. I really didn’t want Vincent to be part of this. He’s my coworker and shouldn’t have to deal with whatever my love life has become. If Vincent’s serious about some of the things he says, he really worries about me too much.

“Are you okay?” he asked, not making any movements toward me like he usually did. All he did was turn his head to face me.

“I’m fine. It’s nothing.” 

‘Sorry I can’t tonight,’ I replied to the string of texts.

“I’ve known you long enough to know that’s not true,” Vincent muttered, turning toward the window.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Vincent left me alone after that. My heart ached, not just because of the texts, but also because of how much Vincent cared about me. Of course, I had known he cared before, but he truly wanted me to feel better.

It was bittersweet, really. I didn’t hate Vincent; I never did. We’re just different and we can’t change that, nor would we ever want to. If anything, I like talking to him because we disagree. I have a feeling he just likes to pick fights, but he’s always played them off as a joke, which is oddly charming. Not that I find him charming, that is. All I ever wanted was for him to get off of my back for once. All of the teasing, the joking, and the worrying is really getting annoying.

My thoughts were interrupted by another message from my ex.

‘How about tomorrow?’

I was quick to respond.

‘I’m out of town for the weekend and super busy with work stuff’

After that, it was a while until he replied again. I didn’t see another message until we were pulling into the circle by the hotel doors.

‘K’

Wow, okay, he did not have to be a dick about it.

As I was stepping out of the taxi, though, I realized something that hit me like a truck.

He was supposed to leave for Texas a few days after we broke up.

I slammed the door of the taxi, wordlessly following Vincent and William to the hotel room. Once we got inside, Vincent turned to me. I swallowed the lump in my throat, hoping he wouldn’t notice how shocked I was.

“We’re still on for movie night, right? If you don’t want to, we don’t have to,” Vincent said, watching me repeatedly mess with my hair, never seeming to get it quite right even though it looked the same every time.

“No- I still want to.”

“Okay. Wanna help me try to work the TV in there?” he asked, gesturing toward our room with a playful smirk.

“Sure,” I softly chuckled, following him inside. 

To neither of our surprise, there was no way we could connect either of our phones to the TV in our room. Neither of us had brought laptops, either.

“Looks like we’ll just have to sit close together. That is, unless you don’t want to,” Vincent said, scrolling through netflix.

I sighed, half of my mind still occupied with thoughts of my ex. Even if i did have to sit awkwardly close to Vincent for two hours, maybe it would be good to have a distraction from the drama.

“It’s fine with me if it’s fine with you,” I mumbled, almost not believing what I was saying. I was talking to Vincent, after all, the man who has flirted with me and teased me to no end. If he hadn’t started asking me about my personal life earlier, we might have been arguing right that second over something pointless.

“Okay. I’ll try not to touch you.” Vincent smirked before flopping onto the bed. I rolled my eyes before heading toward my suitcase for some pajamas. “Oh, I almost forgot to change.”

“Do you want to change first, or-” I abruptly stopped as Vincent pulled his shirt off. “Woah, okay, I do  _ not  _ need to see that.”

“What’s the problem? We’re all boys here. Besides, I’ve been working out,” Vincent bragged as I turned toward the wall, waiting for him to finish dressing. “I sleep shirtless, anyway, so get used to it.”

“Fine,” I muttered, “as long as I don’t see you butt-naked, I can stand that.” I blocked my peripherals as I walked across the room, ignoring Vincent’s purple, sculpted abs as I stepped behind the bathroom door to change. 

When I stepped back into the bedroom, there were those purple abs, fully on display as Vincent lay across the bed. Noticing me freeze in front of the door, he looked up from his phone.

“Like what you see?~” Vincent smirked as my cheeks began to heat up from embarrassment, not arousal. 

“Aren’t you cold?” I asked. After all, I was fully clothed and still freezing, even with the air conditioner turned down. Seriously, who needs air conditioning in the winter? 

“No, I think it’s quite nice, actually.” Vincent patted the other side of the bed. “Come on, I think I know what movie we should watch first.”

“What is it?” I rolled onto the bed, staying as far away from Vincent as I could while still being able to see the phone screen.

“Well, I figured, since you said you don’t like horror, that I could find something more mild.”

“So you chose a horror movie.”

“Yes, but you might like one if you actually watched it. How good are you with gore?”

“Not at all.”

“Okay,” Vincent mumbled, scrolling through a list of movies on netflix. “So  _ Sweeney Todd _ is out of the picture…”

I tossed the extra pillows to the foot of the bed, leaving only two pillows by the headboard. My phone, which I had placed on the bedside table, vibrated again, showing multiple new messages from the same person. This was going to be a long night.

“How about  _ Annabelle _ ? I don’t think it’s that scary,” Vincent continued.

“Sure, as long as I can sleep afterward.”

“I have a feeling you will,” Vincent said, starting the movie while holding the phone so both of us could see.

I had an idea of what the movie was about, especially with all of the promotion it had. Other than the occasional jumpscare, it was basically just a haunted doll. I get paid to keep track of eleven haunted robots.

By the time the movie was over, I was nearly asleep, still a full foot away from Vincent.

“What did you think?” he asked, setting his phone down and turning to me. We had turned the lights in the room off shortly after starting the movie, allowing me to see no more than Vincent’s silhouette on the other side of the bed.

“It’s okay. I might watch it again.”

“So you like it?”

“I-” Yes, I did like it, but I would never admit that to Vincent. “No, I just thought it was funny, that’s all. We basically live like that.” I sat up, moving closer to the edge of the bed.

“Okay then,” Vincent chuckled. “You don’t need to lay so close to the edge. What, do you want to build a wall of pillows or something?”

I looked at the extra pillows at the foot of the bed.

“Yes, actually.” We both reached for the pillows, placing them in a line straight down the center of the bed. “Okay. I’ll stay on my side.” I pointed to my side of the pillow wall. “You stay on yours.” I pointed to Vincent’s side of the wall.

“Sounds good to me,” Vincent laughed softly, rolling his eyes. At least he wasn’t making a big deal out of it. We both shuffled underneath the sheets, facing opposite directions.

“Oh, by the way, my ex told me I talk in my sleep, so you can wake me up if it gets annoying.” Speaking of my ex, my phone vibrated again, the screen illuminating the bedside table. It was 11:00 pm, and I was too tired to deal with whatever he wanted to talk about. I turned my phone so the screen was against the table and took a deep breath, hoping he could wait until morning. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t mind. Goodnight, Scott.”

“Night, Vincent.” I fell asleep almost immediately.

********************

When my eyes fluttered open, all I could see was darkness. At first, I felt safe with two arms wrapped around me, a warm chest against my back and a pillow in my arms.

Then I realized who I was in bed with.

“Vincent!” I squirmed out of his arms, standing beside the bed. Dazed, Vincent blinked up at me.

“Oh, I didn’t even realize. It was probably because you were hogging the blankets.” Surely enough, Vincent’s side of the bed had no blankets while mine had not only a mountain of sheets, but the pillow wall we had made earlier was also on top of me. “We can move it back to how it was. Come on, let’s just go back to sleep. It’s two in the morning.”

“Blankets or not, don’t spoon me. I should have just slept on the couch.” I helped Vincent redistribute the sheets and blankets across the bed, reforming the pillow wall.

“Everything’s going to be fine. Just get some rest. We’re both tired.” Vincent may have violated my personal space, but he was spitting straight facts.

“Okay.” I wrapped myself in the blankets- from my side- once more before closing my eyes again.

I didn’t fall asleep this time, though.

I waited about thirty minutes before gently rolling out of bed, praying that the floor wouldn’t creak as I tiptoed across the room. 

I sat on the windowsill, turning down the brightness of my phone. I had never read the messages I got while we were watching the movie, and couldn’t rest without knowing what they said.

Most of them were just short drabbles about how he misses me; others were him begging me to forgive him for nothing in particular. As the messages went on, they became less coherent.

I sighed, leaning against the cool window as snowflakes fell outside. 

He probably went out after I rejected his offer and got wasted. This time, though, I wasn’t there to drive him home. If I had responded to his messages earlier, maybe this would have never happened. Maybe he didn’t lie to me and moving to Texas just didn’t work out for him. He probably meant no harm.

I should have read between the lines.

This is all my fault.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, my breath shaking as I scrolled further. The next few messages, though, were quite different.

‘Who is this’

‘I thought he split up with the last person he dated’

Those two were the last messages, and they had just been sent half an hour ago. Whether my boyfriend or this other person were still awake or not, I wanted them to tell me that it was all a misunderstanding. I wanted him to tell me he didn’t want me back. I wanted the other person, who took his phone, to simply be a friend and nothing else.

Cautiously, I responded.

‘We did split up’

Soon after, this mystery person was typing from my ex’s phone again.

‘Oh’

‘I guess I didn’t expect you to still be talking after all this time’

I sat straight up against the wall.  _ All this time _ ? As my fingers shook, I clutched my phone tighter while replying.

‘He broke up with me two weeks ago’

‘Who is this’

At this very hour, it had been exactly two weeks. Either this person has the relationship ideals of a seventh grader or my ex was…

No, he couldn’t be cheating, right?

He may have had a good reason, though.

The person on the other side of the screen typed, then deleted, then typed, then deleted some more before finally sending a response.

‘Well now I’m his ex-girlfriend’

‘Thanks’

For a brief moment, the nameless girl’s words completely slipped my mind. When I did finally realize what she meant, I didn’t know what was worse: the fact that this girl had gone through her boyfriend’s phone and read our conversations or the fact that he had been cheating for, apparently, quite a while now. 

I nearly blocked the number altogether, but I didn’t. If my ex wanted to explain himself, I’d let him. I would listen to every word of his explanation, even though it had been running through my head ever since that night. I could fix my mistakes easily and we could finally be happy again, just like we used to be.

I shivered against the glass, which had fogged up due to my breathing. Setting my phone on the windowsill, I softly stepped across the carpeted floor. I doubted that I would get any more messages that night. Vincent stirred, but didn’t wake up as I rolled onto the mattress. 

I honestly wasn’t surprised that I had ended up stealing all of the blankets earlier in the night. It was almost as if I was cold-blooded. The sheets were frigid to the touch and took at least half an hour to warm up. Even then, the closer I got to Vincent’s side of the bed, the warmer the blankets were. I couldn’t sleep that close to him, though. I was  _ not  _ going to explain that to him in the morning. Instead, I settled just beside the pillow wall, listening to Vincent’s slow, even breaths.

I was sure that, after a good night’s sleep, everything would be just fine.


	5. i saw an aesthetic definition for philophobia on pinterest and it reminded me that i needed to update this fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vincent and Scott go out on the town😎

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m posting this at like 2 am and i’ve reviewed it but it has not been edited yet so i hope it’s consistent and there aren’t any errors, spelling or plot-wise! i may rewrite the parts im not satisfied with and repost this chapter but for now i’m just putting this up as it is so I can stop dwelling over this chapter and write the rest of the story🤪

My eyes shot open as I heard a door slam, only to remember that I was still in the hotel room.

Rolling over, my eyes still bleary, I noticed that there was no one in the bed with me.

_ This can’t be a good sign _ .

Muffled speech echoed across the suite, soon joined by what sounded to be a crinkling paper bag.

I sat up, stretching as the sunlight nearly blinded me through the gap in the curtains. My head was pounding, probably from everything I had been thinking about last night, but it was bearable. All I had to do now was admit that I overslept without completely embarrassing myself.

I silently paced across the carpeted floor, hoping that Vincent and William wouldn’t be able to hear me stalling for time until one of them came to check on me. I plucked my phone off of the windowsill, biting my lip in an effort not to react to what I saw. 

I really shouldn’t have been surprised at how many messages I had gotten from him, especially after the previous day, but he appeared almost stalker-ish. I didn’t open the messages, nor did I want to. I was on a business trip, for god’s sake, and I didn’t have the time or energy for drama that should have ended two weeks ago.

“Scott! Get your lazy ass out of bed-” Vincent’s voice startled me back into reality as his fist thumped against the wooden door.

“You don’t have to be rude about it. You kept him up pretty late last night watching that movie.” William’s voice was slightly muffled, but he enunciated enough that I could still tell what he was saying.

“Vincent,” I called toward the door, as Vincent hadn’t stopped banging his fist against it. “I’m awake, you can stop yelling at me now.”

Vincent stepped into the bedroom, looking surprised for only a split second that I was not only awake but also standing on the other side of the room. I yawned, combing my hair out of my face with my fingers. Vincent looked me up and down before smirking, his intentions a mystery.

“Well, are you just going to stare at me or do you want to tell me something?” I crossed my arms, averting my gaze to the floor.

“Oh, I just brought some stuff from the cafe down the block. Thought you’d like some coffee. My uncle wants us away from here for the day- some people who want to talk to him about Freddy’s- so I’ve been thinking about places we can go. You’ve got thirty minutes to get ready, by the way.”

“Oh- okay, I can manage.” I kneeled on the ground, pulling a sweater and jeans out of my suitcase. “Do you need anything before I shower? There is no way I’m letting you walk in on me.”

“There’s nothing I need right now. What, are you embarrassed about your tiny-”

“No- you know what? You’ll never know because you’re never going to see it.” I smirked, strolling past Vincent as I picked up a towel from the shelves outside of the bathroom. “By the way, I’m locking the bathroom door, so don’t even try.”

*****************

“Thanks for bringing coffee, by the way.” I stood behind the couch, leaning on the backrest.

“It was nothing, really,” Vincent replied, leaning back into the couch cushions to look up at me. “I was just awake first, and wanted something to do that wouldn’t wake anyone up. I was surprised you stayed asleep while I showered and dressed.”

“Me too. I usually don’t sleep this late.”

“Oh, by the way, you do talk in your sleep.”

My arms tensed up, my hands tightening around my latte. If I said anything weird last night, Vincent would be sure to share it with everyone we know. Maybe, just maybe, I could convince him to pretend it never happened. 

“I’m so sorry, Vincent-”

“No, you didn’t bother me. I actually think it’s cute~” Vincent looked down at his phone, not showing me if he was serious or just trying to get a reaction out of me.

“Cute? What did I say?”

“Well, when you fell asleep after the movie you started going on about how you had no eyes or mouth because your head was a phone. Do you remember what you were dreaming about?” Vincent asked, leaning back into the sofa again to look at me.

“Yeah, I’ve had this recurring dream where my head was a red rotary phone. Weird, right?”

“I wish my dreams were like that. Okay, so after I woke up this morning, you were saying something about blessing the rains down in africa. Then, you said you needed to feed your goldfish and everything after that was basically unintelligible.” Vincent shrugged, standing up. “Probably a sex dream,” he mumbled softly.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing, it’s… Hey, it’s about time to go. Ready to have the best Friday of your life?” Vincent grabbed his wallet from the table and smirked as he turned to me.

“Bet,” I laughed, following Vincent into the hallway. “I can only imagine what you’ve chosen for us to do today.”

“I have a feeling you’ll like this first one,” Vincent said, pressing the elevator button. 

“You’d better not be taking me to a bar or something.” 

The last time Vincent and I ever did anything together outside of work was when he invited me and some of our coworkers to a bar downtown. All I remember was Mike pressuring me into buying a drink, then Vincent driving me home. That night was terrible enough, and I didn’t want a repeat of it.

“Oh, no. It’s way too early for that.” As the elevator doors opened, we both stepped inside. “First, we’re going on a short walk,” Vincent explained, pressing the button for the first floor of the hotel.

“Is the walk part of it or did you just not want to call a cab?” I raised my eyebrows as Vincent shrugged.

“A little of both. I’m not spoiling the surprise.”

“Fine, I won’t ask about it, then,” I replied playfully, shoving my hands in my coat pockets. “Probably should have brought gloves and a scarf, though. It  _ did _ snow last night.”

“It’s not that long of a walk. You can wear my coat if you get too cold.” Vincent stepped out of the elevator first, making me jog a few steps to catch up with him. I smiled, rolling my eyes.

“What, am I your high school girlfriend? I’ll be fine, Vincent.”

“Suit yourself.” 

Vincent pushed the revolving door until we could step outside, our shoes crunching against the salt on the sidewalk.

“You know,” I said, glancing up at Vincent as we turned onto the bustling sidewalk. “I’ve never been in a big city like this during the winter. It’s so weird to see the roads already cleared. I guess I didn’t expect it to be so cold, either.”

“You  _ really  _ need to get out more.” Vincent smirked. “I understand your point though. After living in our little town for so long, it can take a while to get used to a new place. Hey, you could come with me to Vegas next summer,” Vincent proposed, stopping at a crosswalk.

“Vegas? I don’t know,” I laughed nervously, a small smile creeping onto my face just at the thought of it. How would I ever tell my mom that I can’t visit over the summer because I’m going to Vegas with a coworker? 

“Eh.” Vincent shrugged. “I had a feeling you’d say that. Just wondering if you were interested.”

“No- Not like that! It’s just- I don’t gamble. I don’t drink anymore. You’d have more fun without me,” I replied, continuing to look straight ahead.

“You know what? I bet, if I took you with me, I could teach you to have some fun,” Vincent looked down at me, waiting for me to return at least a glance.

“I can have fun. I’m very fun! You only see me at work, how would you know?” I narrowed my eyes at Vincent, who only rolled his in response.

“What was the last spontaneous thing you did?” Vincent asked, fully expecting a lame answer such as the one I was about to give.

“I went to Walmart at two in the morning to get coffee…”

“Was this that night when you texted the group chat to ask if any grocery stores were open? Because I definitely would have responded if I wasn’t working,” Vincent said, peering up at the buildings we were passing. “Were you just going out for fun, or…”

“No, I was just out of coffee,” I muttered, fully understanding Vincent’s point. “It was just a few days ago.” I crossed my arms, remembering that night a little more vividly than I’d wanted to. I couldn’t stop thinking of  _ him _ . Everything we said and did on the last night we were together repeated constantly in my mind. At work, I could usually block it out if I was distracted by something else, but at home…

It was almost as if it was all happening again. That night, specifically, I could hear his words echoing off of the thin walls of my apartment, telling me nothing but the truth about myself. 

“Hey,” Vincent said, snapping a few times near my face. “Are you there? Because we’re here.”

After blankly glancing up at Vincent, I turned my attention to the sign we had stopped in front of. When I looked beyond the sign, through the giant windows, I realized where we were.

“A library? Really? I thought you didn’t like to read.” I stared into the building through the glass, which had been blurred due to how cold it was outside.

“I never said that,” Vincent stated, shifting his gaze from the sign on the door to me. “I just said I haven’t read a single book since high school.”

“What book,” I smirked, meeting his eyes. “ _ Animal Farm _ ?” Vincent rolled his eyes.

“Try  _ The Great Gatsby _ .” Vincent crossed his arms. I raised a brow before he motioned for us to go inside.

Aged paper definitely wasn’t a scent I was familiar with. The first floor wasn’t bad, but as we ascended the various levels of the building, the textbooks, as well as the dust, became increasingly thicker. Taking in a full breath as we stepped onto the top floor was a mistake.

“Your sneezes are seriously adorable.” Vincent stifled a laugh as I shot him a glare.

“No they’re not, and don’t say I’m cute. At least I’m-”

“I never said you were cute. I only said your sneezes were cute. You should sneeze more often,” Vincent was calm as ever, while my cheeks and nose were becoming a brighter fuschia by the second. Whether I was pissed off, embarrassed, allergenic, or still cold was beyond me. 

I sighed, jogging a few steps to catch up with Vincent, who had begun weaving through the bookshelves effortlessly, confidently striding ahead of me.

“Vincent-” I called after him, realizing I wouldn’t be able to catch up if he kept walking so fast. “Vincent, wait- where are we going?”

  
  


***********************

“How did you know about this place?” I asked, not out of suspicion, but out of sheer curiosity.

Vincent had led me to a spiral staircase in the back of the top floor, leading to a balcony on the roof where a lot of the city could easily be viewed.

“Five years ago,” Vincent sighed, eyes fixated on the horizon. “I was in this same chair. A girl I met brought me here. I haven’t seen her since.”

I turned my gaze away from Vincent, watching the end of the sunrise. 

There was so much more to Vincent that I hadn’t realized. The way he smiled- a real smile, not a smirk- was so wholesome. It was almost as if his flirtatious nature was no more than a defense mechanism. Hearing his soft, low voice coupled with the slow breeze surrounding us as his eyes reflected the warm sunlight was like something out of a dream. He was strangely charming.

I was attracted to him and I hated that.

“So are we just going to sit up here, or are we going back inside, or-” I mumbled, shivering. We were outside, after all, and wordlessly staring into the horizon was unusually intimate for us.

“Oh, if you’re cold, we can go back inside,” Vincent said, turning to me. The sparkle in his eyes persisted for a few seconds longer before fading. I nodded, breaking eye contact. I followed him away from the table where we were sitting.

“Should we go to the cafe downstairs...or, maybe…” I drifted off mid-sentence, feeling a tinge of guilt in the back of my throat. The moment we had on the rooftop was sublime- romantic, even- and I ruined it because I couldn’t deal with my own conflicting feelings. 

“We literally just had breakfast,” Vincent chuckled, looking at me as he opened the door to the stairwell. “There are other places we can go, you know.”

I carefully stepped down the stairs, feeling my phone buzz in my pocket. I hadn’t replied to the texts I woke up to this morning, hoping that the whole situation could wait. Apparently, it couldn’t.

“Where else were you thinking of going?” I asked, Vincent guiding me to the first floor of the library. “Or is it a surprise?” I tried to not indicate that I wasn’t a fan of not knowing where we were going, but Vincent seemed to pick up on everything my voice could possibly be conveying.

“Well, there’s ice skating in the park, or we could go to the VHS store. Either’s fine with me, really. We have a couple hours before lunch,” Vincent said, shrugging.

“Do people still sell VHS tapes?”

“Yeah, there’s a place a few blocks down that’s been there forever. I take it you’d rather go there than ice skating.” Vincent smirked at me, but I quickly turned away.

“Yeah, I think it’s better to be inside when there’s snow on the ground,” I added before pushing one of the double doors open, walking alongside Vincent.

Really, I just didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of Vincent. All I had to do was repress whatever I felt, which shouldn’t have been as difficult as it was.

The frigid wind hit my face, filling my eyes as I pulled my phone out of my pocket, opening my messages again.

Between my ex boyfriend, Vincent, and my own conflicting conscience, I was completely and utterly screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy! This has become my most popular fic and I’m so happy y’all like it! It started as a complete joke but has become a story that I have genuinely loved developing! I have a plan for the last few chapters and even a sequel! Yaaayyyyy! So sonce this fic has gotten so long already, I’m removing it from the short and sweet fnaf fics series bc at the rate it’s going right now it could easily be longer than 10 chapters. I try to keep each chapter at about 2000 words, but there will be some that will be longer because of the sheer amount of story that is necessary for these two dumbasses (Vincent and Scott) to actually like each other let alone everything that comes after. I’m not planning on writing smut for this story so don’t count on it but there will be many other intimate situations bc that’s how I roll. Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be more action-packed, I promise😉


	6. lucky charms without marshmallows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAA NEW CHAPTER  
> yeahhhhhh i was kinda dwelling over this one for a while i hope it’s aight

“I’ll be honest. I thought you were lying about this place.” I wasn’t exactly sure if I was expecting Vincent to lead me to an abandoned Blockbuster or just to be lying about the whole thing. Turns out, he was taking me to this little shop on the corner, the neon signs in the windows illuminating the snow on the ground in various different colors.

“Scott, I may tease you, but I wouldn’t lie to you like that.” Vincent pulled the metal door open, a wave of heat rushing out of the small store. “We don’t have places like this back in Utah.”

“Yeah, I guess.” I stepped into the store, the sun casting a golden sort of glow across the cramped shelves. The store itself was larger than it looked. A hallway in the corner farthest from the entrance seemed to lead to another room packed with shelves and wooden crates, accompanying a staircase with a velvet rope blocking anyone from going up. “I don’t even have a VHS player, though,” I mumbled, stopping in front of one of the shelves.

“So you do like rom-coms,” Vincent mentioned, crossing his arms as he looked from the selection on the shelf I was at. “I mean, I probably should have expected that from you, but you didn’t tell me when I asked earlier.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Aren’t I allowed to like something without you judging me for it?”

“No, it’s just that you’re always so cold to everyone. I like your softer side, you should really open up more often.” Vincent kept a relaxed gaze on the side of my face, urging me to make eye contact.

If I could stand Vincent before, I definitely couldn’t stand him now. Before this whole trip, he never seemed even remotely interested in me, yet here he is, making fun of my taste in movies and calling me soft. He’s horribly persistent, both a blessing and a curse. We’re not friends, yet I don’t want him to leave my side. I don’t want to hear his words, just his voice. His smirk is incredibly annoying, but the rest of his face… 

Maybe his attractiveness could make up for how irritating he could be. 

What am I saying?

“Look, I get that you just want something else to tease me about, but I’d like it if you left me alone,” I said, keeping my focus away from his piercing gaze.

“Well, I could have called you a twink, but decided to go easier on you since you don’t seem to want to prove me wrong. Our arguments used to be interesting, now it’s all one-sided,” Vincent muttered, glaring off into one of the wooden crates on the floor. I glanced at him before turning back to the floor with a frustrated sigh.

“I’ll go see what’s in the other room-” I paced to the end of the shelf, turning into the hallway.

“No- Scott- come back, I’m-”

“What, so you can insult me again then complain when I don’t give you a comeback?”

“I didn’t-”

“We were young when we met, okay? I’ve changed a lot since then, and I hoped you would, too.” I turned back into the hallway, Vincent following close behind.

“But it’s-”

“Fighting’s not fun! When will you understand that it hurts?” I spun around, facing Vincent as he abruptly stopped in front of me.

“Scott, I didn’t know-” Vincent was cut off by the unseen store clerk, who shushed us from the other side of the room. 

Vincent stared back at me with pleading eyes, an expression I had never seen from him before. I wasn’t going to give in, though. Staring back into his icy, grey eyes, I could feel tears pricking at the edges of my eyelids. 

Vincent didn’t deserve this. It was clear he didn’t understand. Sure, I didn’t necessarily  _ enjoy _ our little arguments, but it was clear that he never intended to hurt me. Still, though, we could use some time apart. We’re usually never together for this long. 

Feeling my throat tighten, I tried to formulate a response.

That was, until my phone buzzed again. A wave of panic washed over me as all of my thoughts were scattered.

“Scott-” Vincent stepped forward as I broke eye contact, my eyes tracing the lower trim of the wall.

“Leave me the hell alone,” I uttered, my voice strained so as to not break down entirely.

“I’ll meet you back here when you’re ready to go,” Vincent said tonelessly, watching me nod before going our separate ways.

********************

‘Look, whatever she told you last night isn’t true’

‘We can talk about this’

‘We’re meant to be together’

‘We’ll both be happier if we let this go’

‘Please, I can’t live without you’

‘ _ Missed call _ ’

‘Scott’

‘Are you there’

  
  


That was only an excerpt of the messages I had received since I fell asleep the night before, including the call that I missed while I was walking with Vincent. 

On a plush armchair in the corner of the room, hidden behind a couple bookcases filled with tapes, I considered my options. I couldn’t just leave my ex on read. That would be cruel. Besides, he knows where I live.

Letting go of a breath I didn’t realize I was holding until then, I carefully typed a reply.

‘Hey, sorry I couldn’t respond earlier. Still on a business trip. We can talk if you want.’

After all, I still had an hour to kill before noon. What would be the harm in starting to sort out things now? 

I decided not to ask him about the girl who texted me last night. Since he already mentioned her, she’s probably a subject I should not touch any time soon. After a few seconds of him typing, a new message appeared onscreen.

‘I miss having you around’

Out of habit, I hastily typed a stereotypical response.

‘I miss you too’

Shortly after, my phone buzzed again.

‘My bed’s pretty empty without you😉’

Even after hearing this a million times, something about the winking emoji he added at the end of the message made me nauseous. He was always trying to pressure me into that sort of thing while we were together. Apparently, these remarks from him aren’t exclusive to significant others.

I typed a reply, telling him I wasn’t ready for that, especially since we had broken up. I deleted that reply, though. He probably didn’t want to hear that.

Playing dumb was always a safe bet. 

‘Yeah, I miss cuddling too’

After I sent that reply, I shifted through one of the crates beside my feet. One contained multiple copies of  _ Shrek _ and its sequels, while the other contained a stack of records and a few loose polaroids.

Sitting alone at the back of the vhs store, I couldn’t help but chuckle mirthlessly. I had just had an unprompted argument with Vincent shortly after staring deep into his eyes on the roof of the library. With how complicated my judgements of all of this were, I couldn’t even imagine what was going through Vincent’s head. 

Wait, actually, he probably didn’t even care. 

I doubted that I meant anything to Vincent. Sure, he’s been pushing me to open up, but it’s probably just because he’s bored. He didn’t want to become friends; why would he? He’s teased me since we met, and I haven’t been the nicest to him, either. I shouldn’t think he’s exclusively out to get me- I’m usually wrong when it comes to perceptions of people- but he’s got quite a suspicious excuse for compassion.

Leaning back into the seat, I was about to spend some quality time staring at the ceiling when my phone vibrated again. 

‘You’re cute. Can’t wait for you to come home.’

I, on the other hand, could wait a lifetime to get back home.

************************

Vincent didn’t speak to me for much of the afternoon, which wasn’t surprising. We were exactly as we were before: borderline adversaries.

“Where do you want to eat?” Vincent asked nonchalantly, stopping at a nearly empty street corner.

“I don’t care,” I answered softly, eyes fixated on my phone.

“Wow, you’re so helpful.”

“I know.”

Vincent growled, leaning against a nearby lamppost. Neither of us looked each other in the face, yet the tension between us was obvious. The way that Vincent released remarks, dispensing evidence of pure spite to anyone in the vicinity while I numbly absorbed it all, accepting that this is who we were to one another and neither of us could change that. It was in our nature.

“Get your ass off of Tinder and look around.” Vincent advanced on me before stopping a few inches away, turning toward the bustling street as he sighed, slightly shivering from the cold. “Just give me something- anything- so we can decide where to go.”

“Okay, uhh,” I said, looking up for the brief second required to point vaguely in the direction of the street with all of the restaurants on it. “Let’s go there.”

“Where?”

“Over there.”

“You know what?” Vincent kept his gaze fixed slightly above my eyes as I slowly tilted my head to look up at him. “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you were pointing at that gay club over there, and-”

“No!” I scowled, making eye contact with Vincent for a split second before looking back down the row of restaurants. “I was pointing at that- uhh- pizza place beside it.” I crossed my arms, turning my phone off as I continued to stare at the neon sign, making a ghastly realization.

We work at a pizza place.

We could eat pizza any time we want.

And we’re going out for pizza while on a trip in a major city.

Typical.

“Aww, do you miss Freddy’s?” Vincent sang condescendingly as we began to cross the street toward the restaurant.

“No. What’s wrong with pizza? Besides, at least this place isn’t for kids.”

“Well, whatever you want, I guess,” Vincent replied, shrugging.

“If you don’t want to go there, let’s go somewhere else. That was the first place I saw that looked like it didn’t serve alcohol.”

“You know what? I don’t think it matters where we go,” Vincent stopped on the edge of the sidewalk.

“Me neither-” I tried to continue on, but Vincent stopped me again.

“It doesn’t matter because, wherever we go, we’ll both hate that we’re together.”

“I don’t necessarily hate it.”

“Well, you’re not making it obvious if you like it, either.”

“Whatever. It’s just been a rough day,” I replied as Vincent resumed walking alongside me on the pavement.

“Yeah, I can tell.”

I sighed, glancing up at Vincent before pushing open the glass door of the restaurant. The lighting was warm and inviting and the decor appeared as if it belonged in an Olive Garden, but I guess pizza is Italian food, after all.

Our waiter gave us a raised table beside a window where we could see pretty far down the street. 

For some reason, cities like this have always been super appealing to me. The bright lights, the attractions, the diversity, the constant feeling that you’re never alone as you hear cars rushing through the streets at all hours of the day. There’s always something new to discover and always something worn to leave behind.

“So we should be back at the hotel any time after seven and we’re responsible for our own meals,” Vincent said, eyes on his phone as I glanced between him and our water glasses.

“I guess the meeting went well, then…” I kept my eyes trained on the table, tapping my fingers against the thick slab of oak.

“Yeah. They’re going to dinner without us. Something about marketing the characters to the public. Never thought I’d see those abominations on TV, but here we are,” Vincent replied, a small smile creeping onto his face.

I laughed dryly, picking up my own phone and continuing the conversation my ex had started a few minutes earlier. We were discussing the best toothpaste brands. God, how I missed talking with him.

“Hey, Scott...”

“Hmm?” I glanced back to Vincent, who averted his gaze.

“I’ve been thinking, and I really need to ask-”

“Can I take your order?”

We both looked up to see a tall man standing beside our table, holding a notebook.

“Uhh- yeah.” For the first time since I met him, Vincent actually looked a little flustered. It was  _ barely  _ noticeable- I mean, this is Vincent we’re talking about- but it was there. 

Vincent, who had been trying to get me to open up this whole morning, was keeping something from me. I couldn’t tell what it was. There weren’t really any other signs of what he was thinking.

I decided to drop it. If Vincent wanted something, he let everyone in the immediate vicinity know all about it. Whatever he’s thinking about probably isn’t even that important to him. For all I knew, he could have been thinking about hooking up with our waiter.

After the man left the table, Vincent looked back at his phone. I did the same, leaving every excuse for us to not speak with each other.

In all honesty, it was depressing. 

Vincent was tired of me losing my willingness to fight back or even share an opinion in the first place and I was tired of his persistence and his flirtatious nature. Earlier in the day- for a split second- I saw Vincent as someone who just needed someone to validate him in return. Now, I don’t even know if I should give him a reaction.

Lunch was short and silent, as well as the rest of the day.

Vincent stayed with me, though. We could have split up after lunch to do our own things, but he insisted on staying with me.

“It’s not a good idea to walk alone. You’ll definitely get lost,” he said as we turned another corner.

Instead of ice skating, we had decided to go sightseeing. Neither of us were really paying attention, though. While I was consumed by my conversation with my ex-boyfriend, Vincent would occasionally glance in my direction. He was obviously suspicious of me.

Occasionally, we would mumble something along the lines of:

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah, it is.”

We wouldn’t say any more than that, though.

Texting that afternoon was almost like a habit; it was easier than I remembered it being. He didn’t tell me much about his life, he just asked me all about what I had been doing since we split up. Although it was nice, part of me couldn’t help but wonder why he wasn’t telling me all about himself like he used to. There was one text though, near the end of the day, that I didn’t reply to; I couldn’t.

After dinner, while Vincent and I were walking home, the texts I was receiving were dangerously flirtatious. Even when we were together, he would never talk to me like this. He obviously wanted something. What, though, I wasn’t sure.

‘When will you be home?’ He messaged me, quickly adding a second text: ‘I want to meet up.’

In that moment, time froze still. I was still walking normally, of course, but my mind was racing. 

I felt awful for thinking badly of him, but his behavior was suspicious. After all, two weeks prior, he said he never wanted to see me again. 

He said horrible things to me. 

He must be really sorry for what he did if he’s turning around so quickly. Unless he doesn’t really mean it… 

‘Where?’ I replied. ‘At the airport?’

‘How about at your place? I’ll help you carry your stuff inside.’

Based off of how I had known him in the past,  _ nice  _ would have been an understatement for how he was right now. It was unsettling; it was more than unsettling.

‘Ok see you then,’ was all I could bring myself to type.

‘I love you’

After seeing it in my notifications, I didn’t open that message.

All of the stress and anxiety that had been building up all day was finally getting to me.

Silently, we stepped into the elevator. Vincent leaned into the elevator button as he pressed it, glancing back at me as he stood upright. I clasped my hands together, resisting the urge to touch my hair, scratch my arms, or anything else that could possibly convey I was nervous. Sure, we wouldn’t be back in Utah until Sunday night, but it’s still closer than I would have liked.

Nervous would have been an understatement for how I was feeling, though. My eyes were burning from a combined lack of sleep and need to cry to someone, anyone who would believe me. Butterflies tickled the edges of my chest and stomach, but they weren’t a sign of attraction. It was almost as if they were frantically trying to escape. The movement of the elevator didn’t help, either. 

Vincent didn’t glance at me once as I gripped the handrail in the elevator, my knuckles turning whiter by the second.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Vincent swiftly motioned for me to step out, following me down the hallway.

“Just so you know, I’m going to bed when we get to the room,” Vincent said, not even beginning to turn toward me.

“Oh- okay, then. I’ll hang out on the couch, then, so I don’t disturb-” My speech came out as more of a choked whimper than I intended, but Vincent didn’t appear to notice. 

He roughly inserted the key card into the door lock, shoving the door inside of the room. I timidly followed him toward the bedroom we shared.

“I left my charger in my suitcase. Can I grab it real quick?” I asked, gesturing toward the permanently-clouded glass door.

Vincent nodded, not quite looking me in the eye.

The suite was so quiet I could have heard an ASMR video at the lowest volume. Either William was still at dinner or he didn’t intend to discuss the convention with us until the morning of. Seeing as it was 9:00 pm, both could be possible. I was, personally, hoping for the former. After all, if we didn’t have a set plan for the day, I wouldn’t know how to avoid Vincent.

I stepped onto the plush carpet, letting the door latch click behind me. Once it did, though, Vincent stopped, instantly turning 180 degrees to face me.

“Okay, you looked terrified walking up here and you were touching your hair like you were nervous about something. I promise you’ll feel better if you just talk about it,” Vincent started again, temporarily causing me to be more mindful of how I’m presenting.

“I’ve already said it’s nothing, so stop asking about it.”

“I hate to see you like this, Scott. I’m not trying to pick a fight with you, I’m trying to help you.”

“Stop prying into my personal life, I don’t want to get you involved…” 

“You’re being defensive again, just like you have been ever since you broke up with that guy you told me about earlier.” Vincent continued to raise his voice as I backed away, gripping one of the bedside tables. 

I hated to admit that he was right, especially about me. As I blinked back tears, I couldn’t help but let him win.

“He texted me, okay? That’s- that’s all…” I stared into the lampshade beside me as Vincent approached me slowly. When he touched my arm, I jumped out of shock, but didn’t move away. “He kept texting me while we were at dinner last night, and we’ve been talking since then. He’s not bothering me, though, so leave it alone. I know I’m overreacting.”

Vincent spoke softly after that, asking question after question about my past relationship. Exhausted, I wasn’t quite thinking straight, answering them all a little more descriptively than I would normally have. I didn’t show him any faded bruises or scars, though. Vincent didn’t need to get involved in this. Though, he also didn’t need to worry about me. 

By about the tenth question, I was left quietly sobbing into Vincent’s chest while he held me close, deciding to not pry any further. 

Coming to think of it, why was Vincent worrying about me? I’ve been nothing but cold and dismissive to him, yet he keeps sticking his smooth, chiseled nose into my personal life. He knows that my love life- or lack thereof- is none of his business, so why does he even ask anymore?

I gently shoved him away.

“Why are you doing this? Before this whole trip, I thought you hated me…” My tear-filled vision was blurred, but I could still make out the conflicted expression on Vincent’s face.

“Scott, I-” Vincent’s hands were on the edge of the mattress as his head turned toward the ground. “I never hated you. Sure, you’re irritating at times…”

“So why were you always picking on me?”

“I… I like you. Fuck, I  _ love  _ you,” Vincent nearly yelled, turning to stare into my eyes once more. His tone portrayed a mixture of frustration and shock, as if he couldn’t believe the words from his own mouth.

I blinked back at him, equally shocked but not angry. A little disturbed, sure, but mostly confused.

“I don’t hate you, either,” I whispered, still choked up from earlier.

Then there was that smile; it was the same way he smiled while on the library rooftop, and it was the same as the glimpse of a smile I had seen on the airplane. I probably didn’t look any different. In that specific moment, both of our eyes sparkling like fireworks, everything was perfect.

Then he kissed me.

Vincent was baffling, to say the least; complaining about me one day, attempting to comfort me the next. Was he two-faced? Was he genuine, acting, or painfully empathetic? 

Now that he’s gotten what he wanted, only time will tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uhh i don’t mean to plug my twitter...... but i definitely do intend to plug my twitter
> 
> @ToastyBagel_ 
> 
> yes there’s an underscore at the end
> 
> but i post updates there, i may post stuff abt my au in general, i post sneak peeks, i post random thoughts
> 
> u don’t have to follow me but u can if u want to uwu
> 
> again thank u so much for reading! ily and i hope u have a good night! or morning! or whenever ur reading this!


	7. less than 5 feet apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: drugging and dubcon elements  
> so i’ve realized this warning was long overdue and i’m posting it right now hoping no one’s been hurt by the contents of this chapter. that being said, this should be the only time these subjects are brought up.
> 
> so i was gonna wait to post this until tomorrow or the day after, but got tired of waiting so i’m posting it today. you know,,,, as a treat. it’s not very action packed bc it’s kind of a cool down from the last chapter and a transition into the next one, which will be a lot of fun lol

When Vincent kissed me, I didn’t kiss back, but I also didn’t resist.

It was nice. It was really,  _ really _ nice.

I knew it couldn’t last, though.

When we both pulled away, we stared for a few seconds, our noses still nearly touching.

“I hope that was okay,” Vincent mumbled, lazily smirking as he brought a hand to my face, gently stroking my cheek. 

The small smile that I had retained from the kiss dropped as I took his hand off of my face, holding it in my lap.

“It was fine, it’s just-” I lowered my eyes to the side. “We can’t do that.”

“What?” Vincent’s tone was more confused than anything.

“I don’t- I don’t think I feel the same way,” I said, my shoulders tensing as I stared into the white bedsheets, prepared for any reaction I could possibly get. “At least,” I added, “not right now…”

I didn’t get anything, though; not a strike, not a complaint, not even a glare.

“I’m so sorry...” I glanced back toward him. 

“I guess I probably should have expected that. It’s fine, really.”

“It is?” I asked before Vincent nodded in response. “It’s okay if you hate me now,” I continued, ready to slip my hand out of Vincent’s grasp before he gently squeezed it.

“My feelings haven’t changed. I’m willing to wait an eternity for you.”

Although I wasn’t attracted to him in the slightest, there was something about the way he spoke- the way his lips curled into a gentle smile as our fingers intertwined- that made my heart flutter more than it ever had before.

“Thanks,” I breathed as my cheeks filled with color. 

Even if I didn’t like Vincent  _ that way _ , it wouldn’t feel right to just leave him in the dust.

“So,” I said, mirroring the small smile on Vincent’s face. “Can we be friends?”

“Absolutely.”

*******************

We didn’t even think to reform the pillow wall before rolling into bed, completely exhausted from the day. We must have walked half of downtown before we decided to head home, after all.

Telling Vincent about all of the stresses in my life, I found, was mostly a good thing. The parts I chose to explain, though, could have been thought out better.

_ “I was always a disappointment to him, but he stayed with me through all of it,” I explained. _

_ “Did he ever tell you why he was disappointed?” Vincent replied. _

_ “Well, kind of. Everyone has standards, though, and it’s my own fault if I can’t reach them.” _

_ “You know,” Vincent replied. “If you think like that, people are going to take advantage of you.” _

_ “Maybe,” I sighed, leaning against the headboard of the bed while staring at the ceiling. _

_ Between periods of sitting in silence, Vincent would ask me seemingly random questions, either trying to continue the conversation or get more information from me. Eventually, he became tired of the small talk. _

_ “Okay, okay, tell me about the last date you went on.” _

_ “All of it?” _

_ “Yes,” Vincent glanced at the floor for a second before turning back to me. “As much as you can.” _

_ “We went to dinner at this little restaurant downtown. We didn’t talk much, but it was nice. We went to his apartment after and- well, I can’t remember all of it exactly- we watched a movie.” _

_ “What movie?” _

_ “I don’t remember. I was really tired, so I didn’t watch any of it. I didn’t completely fall asleep, though. I’m not sure why. I probably had more to drink than I thought.” _

_ We were both silent for a few seconds, Vincent waiting for me to continue and me trying to stall so that I didn’t have to continue. Who knows, Vincent could freak out and try to hunt down everyone who’s ever hurt me. He could disregard the situation entirely. He could tell our boss that I’m gay, and that couldn’t possibly end well. _

_ “What happened next?” There it was. I guess I had no excuse not to answer at this point. _

_ “He got up for a few seconds, saying he was going to get a snack or something. When he came back, though…” I paused, not prepared to describe what came next. “He tried to pressure me into...but I wouldn’t let him. Then, after fighting for however long we did-” _

_ “Fighting?” Vincent interrupted. “Was he abusive?” _

_ “No- No, nothing like that,” I replied, my fingers lightly grazing over the pink spots on my shoulders, the imperfections only hidden by a sweater. “I can’t remember a lot of it- honestly, I can’t- but it was nothing like that.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. I couldn’t remember most of it, but the parts that did stick basically fill in the rest automatically. “I told him that I wasn’t ready for the type of relationship he wanted and he called me a tease, which I probably deserved-” _

_ “Don’t say things like that. You didn’t deserve any of what he said to you. If it were my decision to make, I’d have you block his number right here and now, but I guess I shouldn’t force you. Did anything else happen?” _

_ “The last thing he told me was to leave. He said he never wanted to see me again. I didn’t drive that night, so I got an uber.” I didn’t add how I was probably unable to drive home that night. My head was pounding, my vision was blurry, and I could barely walk in a straight line. It was definitely odd considering I hadn’t even finished one drink, but I figured it was just stronger than I originally thought. _

_ “At least you got out of there,” Vincent sighed, running a hand through his ponytail. “Scott, I’m- I wish I had known. I would have helped you instead of picking on you for how skittish you were after that.” _

_ “No, Vincent, it’s fine. You don’t have to help, I’m handling it…” Suddenly, I stopped. It wasn’t just me; time seemed to stop. _

_ I had been recounting the events of the date when I finally realized what I had missed the entire time from that night to this very moment. I remembered feeling tired- feeling sick- for no definable reason. I was never drunk, nor was I hungover. _

_ I was  _ **_drugged_ ** _. _

_ “Hey.” Vincent snapped just fingers about a foot away from my face as I paled, trying to rid my mind of thoughts of what could have happened differently. “Hey, are you okay?” I blinked a few times, not even realizing a tear falling against my cheek.  _

_ “I can’t believe...he actually…” I was only able to whisper, my throat tightening until the sound was entirely obstructed. The only things breaking the silence of the dim room were my occasional shaky breaths. _

_ “It’s all okay now.” Vincent rested a hand on my shoulder, gently squeezing it. “You’re far away from him now. Everything will be fine.” _

_ As if we were magnets, we both leaned closer to each other at the same time, Vincent’s arms wrapping around my back as my head fell onto his shoulder. I knew I would break the second that Vincent touched me, and I did. _

_ “He knows where I live,” I choked, trying to hold back for at least another minute. It never works, though, no matter how quickly I blink or how slowly I breathe. _

_ “You could stay with me or we could find somewhere else for you to go. Trust me, we can figure this out.  _ **_You’ll never be hurt again._ ** _ ” _

Staring into the darkened ceiling, I wondered how Vincent would keep that promise. After all, we usually didn’t trust each other with anything, and now I could potentially be trusting Vincent with my life. Not to mention our blatant differences, which we still haven’t worked through. We could be fighting the next morning over where we should go for dinner.

Speaking of which, I decided I was never going to drink alcohol again.

Feeling Vincent roll over beside me, I turned to face him. 

“Are you still awake?” he mumbled softly, just in case I was asleep.

“Yeah, why?”

“No reason, really. I was just wondering. It’s nearly one in the morning and we actually have to go somewhere tomorrow.” I could practically hear Vincent’s smirk within his slightly raspy tone. 

“Oh, right, the convention. That’s why we’re here,” I muttered, sinking further into the pillow.

“You’re awfully close to me, love,” Vincent joked, placing his hand over mine. 

“Do you want me to move?” I turned my hand over, wrapping my fingers around Vincent’s.

“If you want to move closer, you can~”

I shifted closer to Vincent, only an inch or two away before I realized he was shirtless.

“Okay, but I’m not snuggling up to your bare chest. We’re not  _ that _ close.”

Vincent nodded sleepily, shifting to the edge of the bed. While he was out of my view due to how dark the room was, he pulled a tank top out of his suitcase and pulled it over his head.

“How’s this?” he asked, shifting back into view.

“That’s fine,” I replied, both of us shifting back into place before laying down so that my head rested right below Vincent’s collarbone. Wrapping one arm around me, he gently stroked my shoulder as we both closed our eyes.

“Maybe we can sleep in tomorrow morning and skip the convention,” Vincent suggested.

“No way. Boss would hate us…”

“Well, he might hate you. He’s definitely never liked me, so there wouldn’t be much of a change.”

“But he’s your uncle,” I mumbled, trying not to fall asleep until the end of the conversation.

“Yeah, and Mike’s his son. I’m nothing like Mike.”

“You’re both tall...and strong…” I mindlessly snuggled closer to Vincent, very much asleep and not realizing what I was doing in real life.

“And you’re really tired. Go to sleep. We can talk tomorrow.”

“Chiseled jaw…”

“You’re already out, aren’t you?” Vincent sighed.

“Clear eyes...iridescent?”

“Goodnight,” Vincent softly murmured, his lips barely grazing my hair.

“Perfect smile…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! if you like this book, go read my purplephone assassin au! it’s finished with two separate endings and it was the first fic i ever completed on here. if u want to see me make fun of my own writing and talk abt my fnaf au, follow my twitter! @ToastyBagel_


	8. not ur every day anime con

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaa im so sorry this took so long!!!!! the next chapter will start right where this chapter ends because i was originally intending for this to be longer but really wanted to post it!
> 
> yay! i fixed a couple grammatical errors in this chapter!

“Hey, wake up.” Vincent’s softened voice was accompanied by a faint buzzing coming from both of our phones. “We have to go soon.”

“Just five more minutes…” When I had fallen asleep the night before, only my head was resting on Vincent. Now, half of my body was on top of him, our legs intertwined. I didn’t move when I realized this, though. It wasn’t a sexual situation; it was all friendly. We were platonically cuddling.

“I can’t move with you on top of me, so if you don’t get up, I’m throwing you off the bed,” Vincent warned, moving both of his hands to my shoulders.

“You wouldn’t,” I replied, not moving. I wasn’t sure if he would actually throw me or not, but that was a chance I was willing to take to get some extra rest. Vincent’s chest rose and fell as he laughed softly, firmly gripping my shoulders.

“You’re right; I won’t throw you, but I will do this.”

In one swift motion, Vincent swung all of our legs off of the mattress, lifting me bridal-style and gently setting me on the floor before standing up.

“This carpet is surprisingly cold.” I sat up, watching Vincent walk across the room. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to shower. We have to be downstairs in an hour, remember?”

“Oh, right,” I sighed, laying back on the carpet.

A swift knock on the bedroom door phased neither of us, Vincent closing the bathroom door and turning the water on.

“Hey, are either of you ready to go yet?” Asked William Afton from the other side of the door.

“No, we just got up. I’m waiting for the shower,” I replied, not moving from my spot on the floor.

William peeked inside the room, yelling to make sure Vincent could hear.

“I’m going downstairs to check in and start setting up. Meet me when you’re ready,” he called, mostly toward Vincent. After that, he awkwardly glanced at me a few times. “Why are you on the floor?”

‘Because I love to dance’ would have been my reply, but since I was talking to my boss, I decided to get straight to the point. “Vincent put me here.” 

Wait. That might have sounded really bad.

“Okay, then. I’ll leave you two to work that out. Get downstairs ASAP.”

“Yes, sir,” I mumbled back to him as he closed the door, leaving the suite soon after.

Staring up at the ceiling, accompanied by the soft hissing of the shower, was strangely peaceful that morning. Maybe it was because of the events of the previous night, maybe it was because I wasn’t fully awake. It seemed as if I had finally put the pieces together, solving my life one problem at a time.

Since we were only going downstairs for the convention…

I had an excuse to not check my phone.

******************

“About time you got out of the shower,” Vincent smirked as I ran over my hair once more with a small towel to make sure it would be dry by the time we actually had to look nice for the public.

“Oh- I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize-”

“You don’t have to apologize. Well, except to the Lorax for how much water you used.”

“I thought the Lorax spoke for the trees…”

“Eh, trees, water, all nature.”

I smiled, rolling my eyes as I folded the towel and set it on the shelf. 

“We should probably get downstairs. Mr. Afton actually asked you to meet him after you were ready to go instead of waiting for me.”

“Well, what’s the fun in trying to start a restaurant chain if I have to go down there all alone?”

I joined Vincent beside the bedroom door before he opened it, exiting the room alongside me.

“You wouldn’t be alone. Our boss is already-”

“I didn’t want  _ you  _ to be alone,” Vincent clarified.

“That’s sweet,” I replied, my cheeks ever-so-slightly filling with color. “You really don’t have to do that, though…”

“Well-” Vincent shrugged. “I, personally, think I do, but let’s agree to disagree.”

“Why would you even  _ want  _ to wait for me?” I teased, pushing the suite door closed to ensure that it would lock.

“I bet you would have stayed in that shower forever if there wasn’t someone waiting for you.”

“Believe me, if I knew it was  _ you  _ standing by the bedroom door, I  _ wouldn’t  _ have left the shower.”

“If you use all the hot water next time, I’m getting in the shower with you,” Vincent threatened with just a hint of flirtatiousness.

“You wouldn’t!” I gasped, lightly shoving Vincent to the side after he stepped into the elevator.

“Oh, but I would~”

“I’ll lock the door.”

“Lucky I’ve got enough hair to carry these around.” Vincent pulled a bobby-pin from underneath his ponytail, proudly waving it in the air before hiding it within his tangled locks.

“Like  _ you _ would even want to see me naked.”

“ _ Well- _ ”

“Noooooo thank you. We’re not discussing this,” I interjected, watching the elevator doors open. before they had even opened all the way, I was the first one out of the elevator, Vincent following close behind me.

“Aww, but I like to flatter you. You’re adorable when you’re flustered.”

“First of all, I’m nowhere  _ near  _ adorable. Second of all-” I abruptly stopped at the end of the hallway, gazing into the ballroom where the convention had already begun. “-not in front of...all these people…”

“We’ve got a lot of people to impress, don’t we?” Vincent asked rhetorically, slightly chuckling to himself.

“Yeah,” I replied, frozen in the doorway, partially in shock at just how crowded the space was. “And we have no idea what to do…”

“We’ll find out sooner or later. Come on, I think I see William.” Vincent gently grabbed my arm, pulling me out of my frozen stance. 

The corner where our booth was set up was perfect; It was at a perfect angle from the air conditioning and was only a few feet away from the snack table. We were sure to get a few offers. That also meant, though, that we actually had to talk to people about what it was like to work at Freddy’s.

“Oh, you’re finally here. I was worried for a second that you weren’t going to show. Go get some coffee and snacks. We’re one of the last tables people will visit, so we have time to spare,” William explained, gesturing to the snack table as he mentioned it.

“Cool. I’ll go get some coffee, then,” I replied, doing finger guns before starting to walk away.

“I’ll go, too,” Vincent began to follow me before William stopped both of us.

“ _ Don’t  _ fight over anything. I don’t care if you disagree on things. Our reputation- the  _ company’s _ reputation- is at stake. Don’t make me regret bringing you two.”

“Yes, sir.” I stood rigidly, glancing at Vincent as he crossed his arms.

“We’ve worked some things out. You shouldn’t have to worry,” Vincent added, smirking toward me.

“I find that difficult to believe, but as long as you’re not yelling at each other, that’s fine by me. You can go now if you want.”

“Thank you, sir,” I awkwardly smiled, waving before continuing to walk toward the snack table.

“Thank you, sir,” Vincent mocked, following me. “You’re so polite. It’s cute.”

“Wow, thanks,” I replied sarcastically, taking a foam cup from the stack on the table and filling it with coffee. “Oh- and, by the way, thanks for last night,” I added softly enough for only Vincent and I to hear, speaking genuinely this time.

“It was nothing, really, it’s just… I’ve liked you for a while. Not in a romantic way, I mean. I care about you as a...coworker?” As Vincent stumbled over his words, his eyes slightly narrowed in confusion.

“What?” A small smile crept onto my face as Vincent tried to tell me he loved me without explicitly saying it. “You don’t have to beat around the bush, remember? You already told me last night and I don’t mind-”

“I know, I just-” Vincent paused, avoiding eye contact with me as he glanced above my head and to the side. “I don’t want to say the wrong thing and have you reject me for good. You do have a life outside of the pizzeria, after all…”

“Hey, you’re a good guy. Whoever your next relationship is with, they’ll be really lucky to have you.” I tapped the side of the foam cup, glancing down at the table before looking back up at Vincent. “I never said I didn’t love you…”

Vincent returned his gaze to mine, staring sadly for only a split second before reaching forward to ruffle my hair.

“You’re such a dork,” he smirked, reaching over me to snatch a foam cup and fill it with coffee. 

Although his comment seemed to come out of nowhere, I could tell what he was doing. He wanted a relationship with me and was trying not to get his hopes up. What he didn’t know was that I also wanted to be with him. The only thing standing between us at the moment was my ex-boyfriend, who I was still obligated to meet up with as soon as I got back home.

Vincent never knew about the plan for my ex to meet me at my apartment as soon as I got home from the airport, and I didn’t think he needed to know. After all, this shouldn’t be Vincent’s problem. I need to confront my ex alone about getting back together.

“Hey, Scott, ready to lie about how awful working at Freddy’s is?”

“Absolutely.” I laughed along with Vincent as we made our way back to the booth. 

*******************

“Did I ever tell you two what yesterday’s meeting was about? Both of you were asleep when I got back to the hotel last night.” William stood for a second to gaze across the room. There would still be a lot of time until people started coming to our table. Even then, they’ll all be getting snacks and drinks first.

“Nope, you never told us. How late did you get to the hotel?” Vincent asked, absentmindedly resting his elbow on the back of my chair and his hand on my shoulder.

“Well, they offered me and Henry the opportunity to market the characters, specifically. They talked about children’s books, but mostly leaned toward a cartoon. I got home at around eleven because they wanted to take me to the studio to look over concept art. All of this...it will definitely be a change.”

“Yeah,” Vincent and I agreed in unison, Vincent sounding slightly calmer about the whole situation than me.

“I have a feeling we’re  _ really _ going to profit from this.” William paused, glancing around before looking back at us. “What do you two think would help the business? Be honest, now, no one can hear us yet.”

“Get some better fucking arcade games,” Vincent muttered, taking out his phone.

“Watch your language, Vincent. What about you, Scott? Do you have any  _ actual  _ advice to improve the restaurant?”

“Uhh-” My heart quickly sped up as I froze, blurring out the first thing that came to mind. “Roller skates!” Mentally kicking myself, I tried to clarify what I said. “Have all the waiters wear roller skates?”

“Is that a question or a suggestion?” William asked, half completely fed up with both me and Vincent and half worried for me.

“Yes…” I furrowed my brow confusedly as Vincent snickered, flicking my nose with his finger. I swatted his hand away, pushing his arm off of my chair. “Vince, don’t do that-”

“I second the roller skates thing. That sounds awesome,” Vincent chimed in, smirking as always.

“Fine-” William had an elbow on the table, resting his head in his hand. “I’ll see what I can do about the roller skates. Any  _ other _ suggestions?”

“Replace the animatronics on stage with those clown robots you designed. I’m sure Scotty here would love that-”

“No! Why would you even want to replace the core four?” I retaliated, completely turning toward Vincent.

“They’re creepy, they can’t sing, they’re basically fursuits-”

“They’re adorable compared to those clowns! And do  _ not _ compare them to furries or I swear-”

“What are you gonna do? Turn the power off while I have the night shift? I bet those clowns don’t even-”

“Okay, okay!” William interrupted our argument. “That is enough! Forget I ever asked.” He completely leaned over the table, his face in his hands. “Can’t take you two anywhere,” he mumbled just loud enough for us to hear.

I turned so I was facing the table, crossing my arms while leaning back into the chair. Vincent did the same before glancing at me a couple times. He pretended to yawn, stretching an arm over my shoulders. I tried not to giggle as I leaned into Vincent. My heart instantly stopped fluttering, though, when I realized we were in public.

When I straightened back into the chair, Vincent turned to face me with downturned eyebrows and a slight grimace, partially confused and partially worried. I expected to pick up some offense from his expression or body language, but I couldn’t find a single trace. 

My facial expression still soft, I mouthed ‘not here’ before my gaze fell to the floor. Vincent shifted in his seat, eyes fixed on the opposite side of the room as he cleared his throat.

“Sorry,” I whispered loudly enough for only Vincent to hear.

“It’s fine,” Vincent mumbled nonchalantly as the first two strangers in the room strolled in front of our table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! i posted a purplephone fic on wattpad that you might like to read if you like this fic! i made a bot read all of my purplephone fanfiction then generate its own fic and tbh it’s kinda a trainwreck haha
> 
> here’s the link if u wanna read it: https://my.w.tt/emQEl9Pqq8 
> 
> i just didn’t wanna post it here bc it doesn’t rlly have a coherent plot 
> 
> tysm for reading! ily and hope u have a wonderful day!


	9. have u heard of hatsune miku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> abt the characters that aren’t from fnaf: Kylie Carson (seen only in this chapter) and the character of Scott’s ex bf are both OCs of mine that have their own completely different story. So yeah if ur wondering i’m just too lazy to make new side characters ahaha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaa new chapter!!!!!! this ones kinda short bc it’s just a continuation of the last chapter but also it’s leading up to the end, which is in just a few chapters! omg this has been a journey anyway enjoy :)
> 
> OH also if u see any misspellings or grammar mistakes pls comment and tell me bc i want to fix them

“Hey there! I’m Kylie Carson and I’d like to open a franchise!” The first lady said, confidently holding out her hand for a handshake. Her accent made it obvious that she was from the northeastern part of the country. 

William stood up, firmly shaking her hand before retrieving a few papers from an open box on the table.

“That’s lovely to hear,” he replied, handing her the papers and a pen. “I’m William Afton. Have you opened a franchise before?” 

“Well, I basically took over my mother’s pizza place just a few blocks from here. You might have seen it. It’s on that street with the gay bar.”

“Oh, we had lunch there yesterday!” Vincent gently nudged my arm with his elbow, forcing me out of daydreaming.

“Wonderful pizza,” I added. “Impeccable.”

“Aww,” She waved her manicured hands in our direction for a few seconds before continuing to skim over the paperwork. “Thank you, boys.”

“I’m sorry if they were a disturbance. They disagree a lot,” William’s smile faltered slightly while he glanced at me and Vincent.

“Oh, they weren’t a bother. I actually don’t remember hearing them talking at all.”

“Oh.” William seemed almost surprised, choosing not to question her. She was right, though. 

When Vincent cleared his throat, my gaze dropped to the table.

“Well, do you have any questions for me or my employees here?” Mr. Afton continued as he vaguely gestured in our direction. 

“Yes, actually…” She looked at one of the papers one last time before turning to Vincent and I. “What’s the work environment like? Like, what jobs are there to fill and what are their salaries?”

“Oh- well,” I stammered, glancing over to Vincent, who did not look as if he was going to answer. “It’s definitely fast-paced...and it can get pretty stressful…” As everyone’s eyes were on me, I paused to breathe before continuing. “It’s not unmanageable, though. There’s a lot to take care of, but that creates more jobs to fill, I guess…” Finally, I turned my gaze back to Mr. Afton, who nodded.

“We usually start at minimum wage then promote based on efficiency and how much they’ve improved. We also take a lot of people for temporary positions.”

“Wonderful, wonderful…” She flipped through the papers one last time before picking them up and holding out her hand for a handshake, which William accepted. “Well, it was nice meeting you guys. I’ll be sure to send you an email after I’ve found a location. A restaurant like this really is a neat idea.”

“Thank you, ma’am. As soon as you have a finished location, I’ll send you the food and supplies. We’re based in Utah, so you might have to wait a couple days for everything to ship.”

“Oh, that’s perfectly fine. I’m not in a hurry or anything.” She glanced at the approaching crowd of people before directing her attention back to us for a moment. “I guess I should get going. I honestly didn’t expect this place to be quite this packed. If you’re ever downtown, don’t be a stranger, alright?”

“Alright, I’ll talk to you when everything’s sorted out.”

“Okay. Buh-bye, boys!”

“Bye,” William Afton and I said in unison as she turned to leave.

“Bye, gorgeous~” Vincent called, slightly after us. She didn’t seem to take to the flattery, though.

As young entrepreneurs came and left our table, the same series of events played out repeatedly like a broken record; a broken record with video, that is.

A new person would walk up to our booth, the heels of their shoes clicking against the floor. They would introduce themself and offer a handshake before saying something about their day or about the weather. Continuously, they would make small talk until William stapled a collection of papers for them and handed it across the table. After that, they would thumb through the papers, ask each of us a question or two, then walk away as Vincent would make some flirtatious comment.

It was always the same, but I guess I should have expected that from the place I’ve been working at for about four years now. Things never change around Freddy Fazbear’s…

Well, except me and Vincent.

When the crowd seemed to die down, fewer people arriving at our booth by the second, I glanced at Vincent before sighing.

“I think I’m gonna get more coffee…” I grabbed my empty coffee cup off of the table before standing. “Vince, do you want anything?”

“Eh, I think I’m fine right now.” Vincent shrugged, smirking as he looked up at me with slightly narrowed eyes as if he was trying to tell me something only we could hear. I couldn’t tell what it was, though.

“Oh- okay. I guess I’ll be back soon, then.” The tension from the beginning of the day still hung heavily in the air around us, and Vincent flirting with everyone who so much as glanced at our booth didn’t help, either.

As much as I did want Vincent to come with me, which I think he could tell, I knew he wouldn’t. From the side of the drink table, I turned back toward the booth where Vincent hadn’t moved an inch. I quickly spun back toward the coffee machine before he could notice, though.

We’re both stubborn, Vincent and I, to the point where it’s nearly suffocating. We could never work together; if not at our jobs, how could it be possible in a relationship? 

It’s impossible. That’s the point.

I need to stop this before I get my heart broken all over again.

*******************

While I was pouring a fresh cup of coffee, Vincent and William were talking. About what, I didn’t know. I couldn’t hear anything over the crowd. Neither of them ever looked at each other, though, nor did they make any facial expression. As I continued to watch from afar-

“Shit-” I hissed as scalding coffee poured over the sides of the cup, falling over my hand before spilling onto the table. It wasn’t much, but it was definitely enough for me to have to clean it up.

Meanwhile, William and Vincent were still conversing in the corner, not able to be heard by anyone.

“Well, it’s obvious he doesn’t know, so when are you going to tell him?” Vincent asked, his expression calm but his tone laced with spite.

“Who? What do I need to tell him about?”

“Tell Scott about the kids. I know Michael is off the table, but-”

“Scott doesn’t need to know unless he figures it out for himself,” William replied dismissively as he continued to sort papers into smaller packets to give to the upcoming crowd of people.

“Why not? It wouldn’t hurt for him to know. Besides, I don’t think it’s a good idea to purposely keep this from him.”

“Vincent, you don’t understand. It’s best if we keep this between us. Scott is just fine; he’s nice and he’s a good worker. He’s also soft, almost unbearably. Even if we were to tell him, do you think he would take it well? He couldn’t hurt a mouse, let alone be an accomplice to child murder.”

“I think he could handle it,” Vincent mumbled, crossing his arms. “If anything, we know he wouldn’t go against us.”

“You’re naive.” William chuckled darkly before finally turning toward Vincent. “Both of you- Henry and Michael, too- weren’t designed to kill. Be thankful for that.”

“Fine…” Vincent grumbled, ending the conversation just before I returned to the table.

“Hey! Sorry that took so long-” I glanced between William and Vincent, neither of whom had acknowledged that I was there. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. We have everything prepared for the afternoon, so there’s really no other work to do until more people show up. We’re done at three o’clock,” William answered, stapling a few papers together before throwing an empty box into the corner, where a stack of boxes already lay.

“Okay, that sounds good,” I replied, sitting beside Vincent.

After that, all three of us were completely silent. I guess there was nothing to discuss. Occasionally, someone would stop by and we would have the same interactions as we did with everyone else, but that was all the convention was.

The entire afternoon, I answered every single question that was asked of me or Vincent. If I didn’t answer the question right after it was asked, Vincent would glance at me as if to tell me he wasn’t going to say a word. In addition, he had this look about him the whole time as if he was thinking about something. 

He was probably thinking about whatever he and Mr. Afton were talking about while I was away.

And he was going to prove William wrong, one way or another.


	10. powerpoint slide transitions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uhhhhhhh this was initially gonna have ort of the next chapter in it too but i was getting close to 2000 words and i hadn’t even switched scenes bc they just talk so much so uhh here it is it’s pretty cute 
> 
> as always, pls point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that i may have overlooked anddddd the next chapter will be more fun but this ones iMPORTANT to the plot yay

Vincent had higher priorities than murder at this point, though.

“So...” I stepped into the hotel elevator after Vincent, pressing the button of the floor we were staying on. “Guess we’ve got the rest of the afternoon to ourselves.”

William had another meeting to attend and, as expected, left before we could ask what we were supposed to do. Now, it was three in the afternoon, we would be in the hotel suite alone, and we hadn’t thought this far ahead.

“I guess we have~” Vincent replied, looking me straight in the eyes for the second time that day. This time, though, it was a sort of vehement, amorous gaze. Although familiar, I’d never recognized the sheer passion behind it before. His pale eyes didn’t soften; they were clearer and harsher than ever, but there was a bluntness to them. I knew what he wanted and he was terribly persuasive. It was almost as if we wouldn’t make it out of the elevator before-

“Well,” Vincent added, snapping me out of my thoughts. “There was that thing tonight that William told us about. The thing at the art museum.”

“Oh, right! I forgot about that.”

“Still want to go? We’ve got a few hours until it starts.”

“Yeah, definitely.” I paused, both of us staring into each other’s eyes once again. 

The unresolved tension from the morning still hung over our heads like thick fog, or smoke, or that one scene in  _ Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory _ where the kid gets on the machine and is transported to the TV in millions of tiny pieces. It was all because I was afraid.

It’s a foolish thing to be afraid of something that isn’t there, something that might as well have not existed in that specific time and place. Hundreds of miles away, yet I could still feel his presence over my shoulder every time I thought about someone new. 

He left me, but, at the same time, he didn’t really leave at all. Whatever we had before we broke up may be gone, but there’s still something keeping me from expressing my feelings for Vincent.

“Well,” Vincent asked once the elevator doors opened. “What should we do until then?”

“I- uhh-” I stammered as we both stepped out of the elevator. “I don’t know, we could just...hang out...I guess…”

The hallway was long.  _ Painfully _ long. This could not get any more awkward.

“Well, whatever you want is fine by me. We could watch a movie or we could just talk if you’d like.” He unlocked the door, gently pushing it open before we both stepped into the living room of the suite. I let the door swing shut, the lock softly clicking in place.

“I think- I think we should talk.” 

I wanted to talk about the morning, how I had sent mixed signals and brushed it off as if it didn’t matter. I decided to tell him what I was thinking when I changed my reaction so suddenly. 

More than anything, though, I wanted to kiss him again.

I had taken it for granted in the moment because I hadn’t realized how I really felt about him. I guess that’s why I didn’t pull away.

Finally, without worry or distraction, I could say everything that I had wanted to during the convention.

“Yeah, so- look, about this morning, I shouldn’t have done that after last night,” Vincent explained, collapsing onto the couch and sliding his phone across the coffee table. “I guess I just assumed you were okay with it, since you basically slept on top of me last night.”

“Vince, that’s not why I pushed you away. I didn’t mind at all. It was actually kinda nice. I just- I don’t think we should do that in public. I mean, what if someone saw…” 

“I mean, it’s not like anyone here knows us. Besides, we’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Yeah…” I softly fell on the couch and sighed. “I guess there’s really nothing to be afraid of…”

“But- if it really makes you uncomfortable, I’ll respect that. We’re not even in a relationship, after all,” Vincent replied, gently placing a hand on my shoulder. 

“Thanks, that means a lot.” I met Vincent’s eyes once again as he kneaded small circles into my shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I added as I placed my hand over his, softly stroking his arm.

“Why are you apologizing? You haven’t done anything wrong, love.” A small smile crept onto Vincent’s face before I realized that the smirks I once hated had become extremely contagious.

“Ah- sorry about that-”

“You know what? We can work on that,” Vincent replied with a slight chuckle as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a loose hug. “You’re sure this is okay?”

“Yeah, this is fine,” I hummed as I returned the hug.

After that, we were both silent. We simply leaned against each other, enjoying the intimacy of one of the longest hugs I had ever given or received in my life. 

In that moment, though, I had another realization.

I was still really,  _ really  _ tired, especially after the convention. I felt like I hadn’t slept in a week, which I hadn’t prior to the night before.

Vincent’s strong, warm arms felt safer every time he held me. I had even slept through all of last night in his embrace, which had never happened before.

Still, even now, I felt as if I could fall asleep right then and there.

“Hey, could you move over for a second?” 

That was, until Vincent asked me to move over before shifting into the corner between the back and the arm of the couch, laying so that his feet were on the floor, but the rest of his body was sprawled diagonally across the cushions.

“Oh- okay…” I quickly faced the coffee table.

Had I done something wrong? Does he not feel the same way anymore? Was the hug only out of pity? I finally had hope for something,  _ anything _ , and I could have ruined it all in the span of a day...

Was I getting too close to him?

“Hey,” Vincent said, breaking the silence. “You can come back if you want. I just had to move because my arm was falling asleep.” There was that smirk again; annoying as always, yet undeniably sweet. “It wasn’t only my arm that was falling asleep, though,” he added.

“I’m so tired,” I sighed as I shuffled across the couch, Vincent guiding my head to his chest once I had laid beside him.

“You look tired, lovely. You always do.” Vincent leaned over to place a soft kiss on my forehead, which I was quick to return by kissing his jaw. “Get some rest. I’ll wake you when it’s time to go.”

I thought about that moment a lot. Sometimes, his voice would repeat those words in my head like a broken record, constantly reminding me of the first of many times where I chose to trust Vincent.

Sure, we were rivals for quite a while, but we had known each other for so long- about five years- that we already had a bond. It just hadn’t been explored.

So I fell into a deep sleep, trusting Vincent to not leave my side.

He, too, had thought of this moment, even long after it was over.

“Maybe William was right about you,” he mumbled, not disturbing me in the slightest. 

With how easily trusting I was of him in that moment, what was he to break that? All this time, he wanted nothing more than for me to like him. If he killed someone, he knew I’d definitely leave him. Even if he was just an accomplice to murder, he wasn’t going to take that chance, so how was he going to prove that there was more to him than William believed?

_ Easy _ , he thought.  _ With as much faith as he’s got in me now, Scott wouldn’t suspect a thing _ ...

Just as long as I stayed oblivious…

********************

“Can you hear me?” Asked a familiar voice right beside my ear. “Hey, it’s time to wake up.”

I hummed in response, suddenly remembering I had fallen asleep beside Vincent on the couch. I buried my head further into the crook of his neck.

“Alright, now I  _ know _ you’re awake. Come on; you still want to go to the art show, right?”

“Yeah...I guess,” I breathed before rolling over to let Vincent stand up. “How long was I out?”

“A couple hours, at least.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah, check the time.” Vincent held his phone out to me. After I sat up and took it from him, I turned the screen on. Sure enough, it was 5:30.

I had napped for two hours straight.

“Oh, that’s- I guess I didn’t expect to sleep for that long. Sorry if it was boring for you or anything…” I trailed off, focusing slightly more on fixing my hair than talking.

“No, there’s no need to be sorry. I thought it was really nice-” Vincent slid his phone back into his pocket before turning to me with a playful smirk. “-and I’m assuming you did, too.”

I rubbed the bleariness from my eyes before standing up, continuing to stare at the couch.

“I really slept for that long,” I whispered, mostly to myself.

“Like a log,” Vincent added. “Well, like a log that giggles in its sleep.” He began to laugh as my mortified expression, too, turned into a chuckle.

“Shut up!” I lightly shoved Vincent’s shoulder as he pulled me in for a quick hug, still snickering. “We still need to change out of our uniforms.”

“Alright. You wanna go first?” Vincent motioned toward the bedroom door.

“Yeah- Yeah, sure. Thanks.”

The bedroom was cold and desolate. I nearly wished I had invited Vincent to come with me, but...no, not yet. It had only been a day, after all, and the thought of Vincent seeing something I don’t want him to see definitely takes priority over how empty the room was.

I pulled a sweater over my head, tossing the polo shirt I was wearing earlier into my suitcase. After replacing my grey slacks with a pair of black jeans, I grabbed my phone and wallet on my way out of the room.

“Wow, that was fast,” Vincent commented, starting toward the bedroom door.

“It’s really cold in there. Can we ask to have the air conditioning turned off?”

“I don’t know. We’re only here for one more night, anyway,” Vincent replied before disappearing behind the clouded glass door.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true…”

One more night.

Only a day left until I have to face reality once again.

Could that mean only one more night with Vincent? Likely, yeah, unless I can weasel my way out of getting back together with my ex.

My heart feels numb just thinking about it. Not sad, not angry; just  _ numb _ , emotionless. I knew this would happen and there would be no way to stop it. I’ll have the best evening of my life with Vincent, then what?

After tonight, I won’t have a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i literally posted this chapter just to remember that i forgot abt the name change
> 
> soooooo this fic kinda started out as a joke and it’s a lil obvious especially in the first chapter but i’ve got a fun and funky idea for a sequel to this fic so i’m making the titles related! also i’m taking it a bit more seriously than before (just a bit) bc these fics rlly do deal w some difficult subject matter so i want to make it clear that i’m not making light of any of them.
> 
> again, tysm for reading my fic! ily and i’ll see u next chapter!


	11. somebody’s gotta pin the art to the wall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter!!!!!!!!!! idk what to say here so uhhhhhhhhh thanks for reading uwu

The taxi pulled onto the road in front of the art museum, screeching to a halt at the giant, ornate doors.

The building was far from simple. If the sun were still out, the arches in front of the museum would have cast shadows across the front lawn, but it was January and the sun decided to say ‘aight imma head out’ sooner than usual.

“I guess this is it…” I stood at the base of the steps, staring up at the grand structure. “It’s taller than I thought it would be.”

“It’s not that tall. You’re just short.”

“Oh.”

  
  


We awkwardly stood in silence for a minute or two, still watching the flags on the side of the building wave across the light breeze.

“So, uhh, do you wanna go inside, or-”

“Yeah, yeah,” I breathed, quickly turning to Vincent. “Let’s go inside. It’s cold out here.”

“Well, no shit. It’s winter.”

“Yeah, I guess…” I nervously tapped my fingers together, glancing at the ground.

“No, you don’t guess. Be assertive with your seasons, Scott.  _ It’s fucking winter _ .”

“Oh…”

“You know what? We can work on that, too. Come on.”

“Oh- uhh- okay…”

I cautiously held Vincent’s arm in one hand as I followed him through the doors. Paying to get into the building was the easy part; now, I had to make it through the art museum without embarrassing myself in front of Vincent...or anyone else… The situation was already awkward as it was.

“So,” Vincent began as we both mindlessly strolled through a hallway. “You like art, right? Do you draw or paint or anything?”

I had realized, although we had known each other for so many years, we didn’t really know  _ anything  _ about one another.

“Well, sometimes, but I’m not really that good. What about you?” We both stopped in front of a grand, colorful painting that nearly took up the whole wall. 

“I’m more of a music person, actually. Maybe I’ll play for you sometime if you’ll draw something for me~” Vincent turned to face me as a soft pink colour washed over my face. I nervously laughed, avoiding eye contact.

“Well, maybe, but I don’t know…”

Vincent shrugged before turning toward the painting again.

“We’ve still got time. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like when we get back home and we’re suddenly not rivals anymore,” Vincent said as we began to meander to the next wall of the room, which was filled with various candid-looking portraits.

Still holding Vincent’s forearm, I slowly paced alongside the wall. First, there was a painting of a man and woman standing in front of a bright sunset on a dark sky. The second frame held a cozy, dimly-lit café. The third piece was fairly minimalistic, showing a silhouette of a person holding a gun behind their back in the middle of a crowd. Fourth, a portrait of two people on a speeding motorcycle under a starry night sky. Next, the fifth painting showed a person casually walking alongside the street, a transparent figure floating alongside them. 

The last painting in line was one that I didn’t fully understand. It seemed to be two brains; one was silver and the other was gold. There was an odd detail about the silver one, though. It had black spots around the edges, as if it was losing only the silver coating surrounding it. Maybe it just didn’t like how other people saw it, so it became a completely different person in response.

I’m probably not right about the  _ true _ meaning of the painting, but, hey, it’s just a theory.

“I’ve been thinking about what’ll happen when we go back home. You know, since…” I trailed off before finishing the sentence, remembering that I had decided not to tell Vincent that I was meeting a specific someone at my apartment after I returned.

“I mean, we could always still pretend to hate each other at work. We’ll have plenty of time to spend together at home,” he replied, leading me to the next wall of the room.

“Yeah, at- at home…” Sure, at Vincent’s place, but I could never bring him to my apartment. Who knows if I’ll even be able to go out by myself for a while after this? “We’re not in a relationship, though, so I guess there’s no reason to pretend, right? I mean- I mean, even if we were… I don’t want to hate you.”

“You don’t?” Vincent glanced down at me, raising an eyebrow. 

We hadn’t paid attention to the other two walls of the room at all, wandering only to avoid people and floor sculptures. Before we had covered the entire first floor, we found ourselves in front of the elevator. 

“No. I’m honestly kinda over that; have been for a while,” I muttered, staring at the ground as we waited for the elevator doors to open. 

“Well,” Vincent replied as the door slid open. As the elevator was empty, we both stepped inside. “Are you saying you’d rather love me instead?” He smirked as I continued to look at the floor, softly smiling.

“Maybe… That would be nice,” I breathed, turning toward Vincent. His gaze wasn’t on my eyes, though. As he stared at my lips with an unreadable expression, the door of the elevator softly closed. I pressed the button for the top floor of the building.

Vincent’s fingertips brushed across the back of my neck, causing me to shiver as he slowly moved his hand up to my cheek. We couldn’t have been more than an inch apart, collectively anticipating when we would close the gap. I placed my hands against Vincent’s chest for balance as I managed to stay elevated enough to reach him.

“You’re sure?” He whispered against my lips, the soft vibrations drawing us closer.

“I’m sure,” I replied with a shaky breath. If we were to wait just a second longer, I probably would have quickly backed off, the tension proving to be too much for me.

We didn’t have to wait, though, as Vincent was swift to close the small space between us with a soft kiss. It had deepened in a matter of seconds, my eyes fluttering closed while Vincent softly stroked my cheek. My hands drifted across his chest, eventually joining behind his neck as I used his shoulders as leverage to reach his lips more easily, ensuring we wouldn’t break apart any time soon.

Vincent, obviously getting the hint that I was short and he wasn’t bending over enough, brought his hands to my waist. I moaned softly as he kneaded his fingertips into my sides before wrapping his arms across the small of my back. He broke the kiss only to pull me flush against his body, lifting me just enough to get anything-  _ everything _ \- we could from each other. 

I shuddered as our teeth scraped together, only to freeze when Vincent bit my lip, nearly drawing blood. He proceeded to suck on the spot where he had bitten, which was still sore. 

I took the opportunity to intertwine my fingers with his hair, brushing my fingertips along his scalp before gripping a section of hair and pulling it lightly. Vincent gasped at first, letting a growl resound at the back of his throat when I repeated the action, frustrated that his hands were both occupied with holding me up.

With a sharp turn to the right, Vincent threw me against the other wall of the elevator, breaking the kiss again. He roughly took my hands, pinning them both above my head. My gaze moved from his lips to his eyes as he seemed to be miles away. With his mischievous smirk, it was obvious he was planning something to do with me; or rather, to do  _ to  _ me.

“Vincent…” I whimpered breathlessly, feeling powerless in his iron grip.

As he brought his gaze from my body to my eyes, his hold on my wrists loosened.

My eyes were incredibly hazy, my pupils dilated and my vision slightly blurred. On top of that, a warmth pooled in my stomach, my heart aching as he fully released my arms. Vincent almost appeared to be taken aback.

“Did I- Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” He asked, concern washing over his features as I softly smiled back at him, my lips still sore.

“No, I’m fine,” I replied, still leaning against the wall and staring into Vincent’s eyes.

“It’s barely been a day since you rejected me, and you already have that dreamy look on your face,” Vincent slightly chuckled, his deep tone and slightly messed up hair firmly keeping my attention. “Don’t worry, I won’t push you into any more walls. I may throw you onto that bed in our hotel room later, though~”

I slightly faltered at that last comment, though I guess I wasn’t entirely repulsed by the thought, either. It was just a lot to process, especially considering that I had never done it before and previously avoided every opportunity I was given because it never felt right.

“Oh- well,” Vincent stammered once he noticed my slight change in expression. “Maybe some other time. I won’t do it unless you say it’s okay.”

“Thanks,” I replied softly.

“You mean the world to me, Scott. I love you.”

I didn’t say anything, responding to Vincent by taking a step forward and gently wrapping my arms around his waist.

As if on cue, the elevator softly beeped, signaling that the doors were about to open. When they did, I was standing beside Vincent, our fingers intertwined.

*********************

“That was honestly more fun than I thought it would be,” Vincent said, waiting outside of the art museum elevator for the last time that evening. “I’m kind of surprised we got through the whole museum so quickly, though. It’s only been a couple hours since we got here, and we’ve covered fifteen floors.”

“I don’t know, I  _ was _ kind of distracted the whole time. I liked walking around with you, though.”

“Maybe we could do this again sometime. Just maybe not a fifteen-story art museum, since we don’t really have one of those.”

I laughed softly as the elevator doors opened.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

We stepped into the empty elevator, letting the doors slowly and silently close behind us.

I stepped over to the array of buttons beside the door, searching for the first floor of the building.

“Scott, if you press all those buttons, I swear…” Vincent didn’t finish that sentence, but he knew he had given me an awful idea.

I held my hand above the rows of buttons, turning to face Vincent with a blank expression. He knew. I knew. He knew that I knew and I knew that he knew. The only thing left to do was what we had been anticipating for the entirety of five seconds so far.

I placed my hand upon the first row of buttons, dragging my hand down the metal plate at an  _ agonizingly _ slow pace. Besides my hand, Vincent and I were still as statues, not even changing our facial expressions. We didn’t need to, though, as the action of my hand effortlessly sliding down the panel was communication enough. Every time my hand would pass over a row of buttons, it would light up, revealing a pure, golden hue. 

After the last row of buttons was proudly glowing, I tore my hand away from the metal panel.

“Great. Now we’re going to be stuck in this elevator for a century.” Vincent broke our eye contact, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall of the elevator. “What if someone else needs to use the elevator?”

“They’ve got, like, six other ones here. It’s fine,” I replied, shrugging.

“Well, alright, then.” We stood in silence for a couple more minutes before Vincent finally added, “Wanna pick up where we left off earlier?”

“Sure, I guess,” I replied, stepping toward Vincent once again.

*********************

“How is it already snowing again?” I stepped out from beneath the protective roof of the art museum, feeling the blissfully crisp snow fall across my hair and face.

“Don’t know.” Vincent appeared beside me. “I guess it’s just a Christmas miracle.”

“It’s January.”

“No, it’s a Christmas miracle.”

“We’d better call a cab. Vince, do you have your phone?”

“What?” he replied. “You don’t want to walk home in the snow?”

“No,” I said, holding my arms for warmth. “It’s so cold. I just want to get back to the hotel and go to sleep.”

“Come on! Remember what I said earlier about being adventurous?”

“What, you’re saying that if I don’t walk in the snow I won’t fulfill my life’s purpose?”

“Exactly,” Vincent said, drawing out the beginning of the word for emphasis. “Also, I don’t want to pay for a taxi.”

I rolled my eyes, laughing softly as we continued down the sidewalk toward the hotel. It was straight down the street, after all. The only problem was that the walk was about five blocks.

Vincent put his arm around my shoulders as we plodded down the sidewalk, the streets still bustling. The neon lights from the surrounding buildings painted our faces with various glowing colours, the lights themselves blurred by the snowfall.

“Maybe…” I mumbled, trailing off before I found what I wanted to say and continued. “Maybe, instead of an art museum,  _ this _ is what we can do when we get back home. We can just go downtown and walk around. I’ve never known why, but it always seems so much more peaceful at night. There are still people, but it’s so much more...quiet…”

“I understand.” Vincent stroked the side of my arm as I leaned closer to him. If I had leaned any more, we would have tripped over one another’s feet. “I never thought cities like this were beautiful before tonight. It’s probably just because you’re here, though.”

“I- What?” I nervously wrung my hands together as my, previously numb from the cold, nose and cheeks flushed pink and filled with warmth. “Oh- uhh- thank you…” 

“My god, you have  _ got _ to learn to take compliments.” Vincent gently squeezed my shoulder as we laughed together. 

In that moment, as well as many before, I had come to realize something that would prove to change my life forever.

Vincent isn’t who I thought he was. 

Before this weekend, I saw him as nothing but an annoyance. I thought he either hated me or he was just trying to get in my bed.

Now, I know him to be gentle, kind, and extremely passionate. He truly cares about the people he loves.

He truly cares about me.

“Your cheeks are ice cold, lovely… Here, you get a blanket from the closet and I’ll make some coffee.”

As much as I want to go home, I want what Vincent and I have to last forever.

“Wanna see what channels this TV has?”

I feel so calm when I’m with him; it’s something I’ve never felt with anyone else before.

“We should probably go to bed. Our flight is pretty early tomorrow, after all.”

When we touch, when we cuddle, when we kiss...it just feels right. It’s like we were made for each other.

“Goodnight, lovely.” Vincent slightly leaned over to kiss the top of my head. I shifted to kiss his cheek in return.

I’m completely in love with Vincent.


	12. ah fuck i can’t believe you’ve done this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LAST CHAPTER BAYBEE
> 
> it’s a good one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: ABUSE, violence (no blood), mentions of noncon elements

“Wake up, lovely. We’re home,” Vincent mumbled against my hair, gently stroking my shoulder.

“Home?” I blinked, sitting up.

“Well, we’re at the airport, but we’re definitely not in Chicago anymore.”

“Oh…” I rubbed my eyes to clear them, finally noticing people in the airplane standing and leaving. “Well, I guess this is it.”

“Hey,” Vincent began while we were walking down the aisle of the plane. “You didn’t bring your car to the airport, did you?”

“No,” I stepped into the terminal. “I called an uber.”

“Want me to drive you home?”

“Yeah,” I looked up at Vincent, who had stepped forward to walk beside me, as a light pink blush covered my cheeks. “That would be really nice. Thank you.”

“No problem. I can help you carry your stuff inside if you want.”

Wait… Why was this familiar?

“Uh- alright- but you don’t have to. I mean, I do live on the top floor of my apartment building, so…”

“It’s fine. I can walk up stairs. You unlock the door and I’ll just meet you up there.”

“Oh- Uhh- That’s fine! Thank you,” I stammered as we neared the doors.

“Here,” Vincent stopped outside of the doors, turning toward the elevator. “I parked on, like, the lowest level, so this should be easier than walking all the way down.”

The elevator doors were quick to open, both of us stepping inside in silence.

Something was  _ definitely _ off here. Whether it was the time of day or the airport itself or something Vincent had said in our previous conversation…

I unlocked my phone, scrolling through my recent messages. A few were from my sister, who only informed me that my cat was back at my apartment. The conversation that sat right beneath it, though, was one that I had definitely forgotten about within the past day.

Hesitantly, I tapped his name.

‘When will you be home?’ 

‘I want to meet up.’

‘Where?’

‘At the airport?’

‘How about at your place? I’ll help you carry your stuff inside.’

My ex-boyfriend, who probably only wants to get back together so I don’t start dating anyone new, already established that he would meet me at home.

Rather, he would meet me  _ and Vincent  _ at home.

“No…” I breathed, closing out of the conversation as quickly as possible and shoving my phone back into my pocket.

“Everything good?” Vincent raised an eyebrow, showing concern that I deflected with a false smile.

“Yeah- yeah I’m fine.”

I may as well have been dead.

******************

“So,” Vincent pressed his back against the side of his purple car, spreading his arms across the top. “What do you think of my hot ride?”

“Definitely the hottest,” I snorted, peering through the windows. The steering wheel cover was a purple faux fur that complemented the violet, fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. Atop the dashboard sat one of those moving hula dancers, a bobble head figure of Bonnie, and a plastic bouquet of purple roses.

His car was insanely cluttered, but there was definitely a method to it. Decorations were shown; everything else was hidden. The CDs were fully visible in a small compartment underneath the glove box. The cassette tapes- yes, his car was old enough to play cassette tapes- were in the box between the front seats. These, I found, were the main pieces of music he listened to.

It was a mixed collection of classical and contemporary piano pieces, many accompanied by other instruments or a voice. The majority of the tapes were labeled in permanent marker across the clear plastic, showing dates with years ranging from 1970 to 1990. One tape, though- one that looked as if it had been listened to more often than the others- was completely unmarked.

“Find anything you want to listen to, lovely?”

“Where did you get all these tapes?” I continued to flip through the collection as we left the parking garage. The rays of sunlight were quick to hit the car windows, the plastic tapes reflecting the light across the ceiling.

“Oh, you know, my parents recorded a few way back when; I like to support smaller artists and composers when I go to local concerts; I’ve recorded a few but I don’t keep those in my car.”

“Wow…” I pulled a random one from the box, popping it into the cassette player. 

“Oh,” Vincent added after only a few seconds of listening to the tape. “I remember this one. I brought my first girlfriend to this concert.”

“ _ Girlfriend _ ? But I thought-”

“Oh- I thought you knew- I don’t really care about gender. If I decide I like someone, I’ll fuck whatever’s in their pants.” Vincent smirked, eyes not leaving the road.

Well, that was...really blunt.

“Uhh- Umm-” I awkwardly laughed, mentally kicking myself for not being able to respond to that.

“Don’t worry. You’re not missing out on much. It’s shocking how some people will turn on you when they find out you like multiple genders. You’re not just gonna leave me here and now, right?” Vincent asked, yet he already knew what my answer would be.

“Oh- No, I don’t mind at all! I don’t think of you any differently,” I continued to stammer before softening my tone at the end.

“That’s good. Oh, by the way, could I take you clubbing sometime? You know, as a date,” Vincent was quick to change the subject. It was almost as if he had been planning the perfect way to ask throughout our entire conversation.

“Uhh-” Caught off guard by his question, I hesitated. 

I really did want to go out with Vincent. Clubbing, though, may not be the best choice. 

This whole relationship was probably a lost cause. Once I get home, everything I have with Vincent will be gone. I’ll stop sleeping. The dream will end.

“You don’t have to answer now, lovely. We should probably take a few days to rest before thinking about stuff like that, anyway,” Vincent added, shooting a warm smile in my direction before looking back at the road.

“Yeah...rest...I’m so tired.”

“We’ve got about half an hour before we get back into town. If you want to take a nap, I don’t mind.”

“Alright.” I leaned my head against the car door, closing my eyes. “What do you wanna bet we still have to go to work tomorrow?”

“Oh, we’re definitely still working tomorrow.”

“Huh,” I laughed softly, “That’s wild.”

The rest of the ride home was a blur.

At some point, I fell asleep mid-conversation. It didn’t matter if I continued the conversation in my sleep; Vincent already knew and, thankfully, didn’t mind. The dream I was having- in which i ran a coffee shop and Vincent came in to order the same thing every day- ended with an odd statement from Vincent as he leaned across the marble counter, his lips grazing my earlobe.

“Hey- Wake up, we’re home…again...”

My eyes fluttered open.

“Oh,” I sighed. We had arrived at the apartment complex I live in. 

The car was still running, but the radio had been turned off. It seemed like Vincent had been waiting for a few minutes before waking me up. 

I didn’t move, though. The thought of even stepping out of the car was overwhelming. So I stared through the windshield, still as a statue. If my eyes weren’t open, Vincent probably would have thought I was still asleep.

“Well?” He broke the silence. “Are we going inside?”

“I- I’ll go inside. You wait here until I come back, okay?”

“Should I start getting stuff out of the backseat?”

“Not yet,” I replied, hastily opening the car door. “Not yet...I’ll be back soon, I just need to take care of something first…”

“Okay, I’ll wait,” Vincent said, suspicious.

I gently closed the door, shivering as the frigid breeze combed through my hair. The sunlight had gone, being replaced with thick, grey clouds. It was probably going to snow again.

It wasn’t long until I saw my ex-boyfriend standing at the top of the stairwell. He didn’t notice me at first. He  _ wouldn’t  _ have noticed me if I didn’t stop at the landing.

“Welcome home, Scott.” He casually leaned against the wall, his eyes narrowing as he stared down at me. “Did you have a nice weekend, baby?” He slightly held out his arms anticipatorily.

“It was fine,” I sighed, stepping into his arms and gently hugging him. “Don’t call me that, though. We’re not together anymore,” I mumbled lightheartedly, looking up at him with a small smile.

“I can call you what I want, cutie.” He ruffled my hair before letting go, stepping aside to peer down the stairwell. “Where’s your stuff?”

“In the car. It- It’s not much, so you don’t need to help me. You said you wanted to talk…”

“Yeah, I do. Look, that last night we were together, I didn’t mean any of it. I promise. We were tired; we were  _ drunk _ . Let’s forget it, alright? We used to be so happy. Let’s start over. No mistakes, no fighting, just like how we used to be.” He gently took my hand, holding it as he awaited my response.

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. We’ll probably just repeat what’s already happened,” I said, glancing between his eyes and our intertwined hands.

“So you don’t trust me?” he asked in reply after a few seconds of silence. “Why don’t you trust me?”

“No! That’s not what I meant-”

“But you don’t, do you? You know, I did nothing but sacrifice my time and energy for  _ you _ and this is how you repay me? Everything I’ve worked for has been a waste of my time.”

“We’re just not right for each other…”

“Serves me right for letting you go over one little night,” he muttered.

“I still have bruises from that,” I choked, stepping away from him.

“No you don’t, it’s been over two weeks…” I looked to the ground, lightly placing a hand on my shoulder before he continued. “Oh, for fuck’s sake-” He grabbed my arm, roughly pulling me toward him before pulling the neckline of my shirt away from my shoulder. “I didn’t even hit you that hard. It’s just taking longer to heal. If you would just take care of yourself, these would be gone and we’d never be arguing in the first place.”

“I’m sorry…” As my eyes began to warm up, I blinked, still not able to look him in the eye. “I did everything I could, but I don’t know what you want…”

“I have a feeling you could figure it out if you just listened.”

I sighed, still staring at the floor as he loomed over me, his hand still on my shoulder. 

I couldn’t keep doing this. Not now; not when there’s someone waiting for me outside who has shown me what love really is. 

Vincent’s been right about everything, almost as if he’s been through everything I have and more. 

What  _ would _ Vincent do if he was in my place?

I gently pushed the hand off of my shoulder, looking into my ex’s eyes for the last time.

“Come on, baby, let’s get your stuff from the car and then we can go out for drinks or something, ‘ey?” he proposed, shrugging nonchalantly.

“No,” I whispered.

“What?”

“I can’t- I’m sorry, I can’t go out with you again after what happened last time.”

“Why not?” he growled, but I wasn’t focused on him. I stayed grounded, remembering that we were not only in a public space but that Vincent was waiting downstairs.

“I know what you did. You tried to- You tried to take advantage of me…”

“So what if I did?!”

“Was that the only reason you stayed? Just so we could-”

“Oh.” He smirked condescendingly, taking a step forward as I stepped back. “I see what you’re doing.” He continued to advance, slowly backing me into the wall. “Ever since I met you, you’ve been nothing but a goddamn tease.”

“I didn’t mean to-” I yelped as he shoved me into the wall, holding me by the neck. He wasn’t choking me, but he could; he  _ would _ .

“I hate to hurt you. It didn’t have to come to this…” He leaned forward, his lips brushing against my ear. I closed my eyes while trying to slow my breathing. This was it. I would just let him have his way with me and get it over with. When his hand slightly tightened around my throat, I reflexively struggled against it. “Maybe you just need a little motiva-”

“What the fuck is going on in here?” a voice yelled from the doorway before the door to the stairwell slammed shut. 

I didn’t even have the chance to open my eyes before I was thrown to the ground. Taking a shaky breath, I opened my eyes, letting the tears I had been holding back fall to the floor. I blinked a few times to clear my vision.

Standing in front of me was a pair of purple converse.

“Scott, are you okay?” 

Warm arms lifted me off of the floor, gently stroking my back once I was standing up.

“Vince, I thought you were waiting in the car…” I sniffed, gently hugging him.

“I was, but I got so worried… I may have been a little impatient, too.”

“Thank you.” I softly laughed with him, gripping the back of his shirt.

“I should have been here earlier. I’m so glad you’re okay.” Vincent tilted my chin upward, gently wiping a tear from my cheek. “Let’s get your stuff from the car, okay? Then, we can talk if you want.”

“Thank you…” I took another shaky breath, hugging him tighter. 

“Anytime.” He ran his fingers through my hair. “Everything will be okay”

And everything was okay.

******************

“Wow, how long have you lived here? It’s so clean…” Vincent set the suitcases he had insisted on carrying in front of the closet door.

“It’s only clean because I haven’t been here for a weekend. I didn’t know I’d be packing it all up once I got back.”

When Vincent and I were getting my stuff from the car, we had discussed moving in together. Specifically, I would move into Vincent’s apartment for my own safety. We decided that he would stay with me until I had all of my stuff packed and we would work out the details once I was out of my apartment. 

I called my landlord that night to give a week’s notice.

“Oh, there you are!” I noticed my cat peering out of the bedroom, running to hide under my bed when she saw Vincent. “That’s Ebony. She’s not really good with new people…”

“Is she good in new places?” Vincent turned toward me, raising an eyebrow.

“If you’re okay with her moving in with us, she can adapt. She’s a real sweetheart, you just have to wait for her to get used to you. She takes a little longer to get used to tall dudes...but if she sees I’m calm around you, then she’ll trust you, too,” I explained before beckoning the cat with that pspspsps sound.

For the rest of the night, Ebony would stay by my side, basically ignoring Vincent while we watched a movie together.

What movie, you ask? 

Annabelle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uhh yeah that’s it  
> this fic is OVER. it’s DONE  
> ily all tysm for all ur support it means the world to me :)
> 
> will i post anything else on here?  
> idk maybe
> 
> for now, go follow my twitter (ToastyBagel_) and my tumblr (toastybagel) if u wanna interact or just keep up with whatever i’m gonna write in the future!
> 
> i hope u have a good day!!!!! or night!!!!! or whatever time ur reading this!!!!!
> 
> see y’all on the flipside


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